Martinengo

A stone arch in Piazza Maggiore leads to a short and narrow alleyway that curves before opening onto Martinengo’s oldest piazza where the most ancient evidence of a Roman and Longobard settlement is found. Here is also the medieval heart of the town. The first castle proper was completed in 953 by Tebaldo, a valiant vassal in the service of Emperor Otto I, who intended it above all to be a defensive bulwark, with a structure enclosed by moats and walls, guarded by a tower. In the 11th century, it became the home of the family of Ghisalbertini Counts, driven from Bergamo at the behest of the Bishop. They modified and even adapted the structure to suit housing needs then lived here until the middle of the following century, when Martinengo proclaimed itself a Free Municipality, overthrowing their rule. When the village passed into the hands of the Venetians in 1428, the castle – of which only the tower remains today – became the official seat of the Podestà until the fall of the Serenissima in 1797.

Read more at…
https://martinengo.org/punti-di-interesse/il-castello/