Martinengo: Discover Fortress Walls, Monasteries and Art

Martinengo between fortress walls and sacred art

Martinengo combines examples of military architecture and sacred architecture with a late-medieval town centre. The first actual castle was completed by Tebaldo in 953. It served as a defensive stronghold, was surrounded by moats and walls, and was watched over by a tower. The former Vallo Colleonesco, once surrounded by walls, is now lined by a shady promenade leading into Martinengo’s late-medieval town centre.

Monasteries with frescoes and special details

The original, typically Franciscan layout is still visible in the Monastero di Santa Chiara. It includes two halls separated by a partition wall, a gabled façade, a cloister and a pointed bell tower. The monastery was built in 1474 by Bartolomeo Colleoni to fulfil a vow made by his wife Tisbe. One wall is completely covered with 15th-century frescoes attributed to the Maestro di Martinengo.

The Convento dell’Incoronata was founded in 1475 at the request of Bartolomeo Colleoni as accommodation for pilgrims along the route of the old Via Francesca. Between 1623 and 1627, Pietro Baschenis decorated its partition wall with frescoes. The cloister contains three unusual 18th-century reflection sundials.

Churches between the Middle Ages and painting

The churches also have their own distinctive features. Sant’Agata has a three-aisled interior with works by Ponziano Loverini, Enea Salmeggia and Giovanni Mauro della Rovere (Fiammenghino); the preserved 15th-century structure can also be seen on the church. Santi Fermo e Rustico is probably considered Martinengo’s oldest church. It was originally dedicated to San Salvatore, and its foundation is dated to the period of Lombard rule in the 6th to 8th centuries AD. A series of frescoes by local painters depicts Saints Roch, Defendente and Sebastian, who were invoked during numerous plague epidemics in Europe.

Town centre, archive and market tradition

Following its restoration in 2013, the Filandone became a cultural centre in Martinengo; it also houses the municipal archive, with documents dating from the 14th to the 19th century. In the historic town centre, an antiques and collectors’ market is held under the medieval arcades on the first Sunday of every month from 8:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Local speciality and communal evenings

The Marendì del Palio is an all-inclusive dinner held under Martinengo’s medieval arcades, where local traders and the Gruppo Colleoni offer various foods. In 2003, the municipality approved the De.Co. label “la Patata di Martinengo”.

Procession and designated hiking route

The Santuario Madonna della Fiamma was built at the beginning of the 16th century following an apparition said to have been miraculous. An annual procession to the Santuario Madonna della Fiamma takes place on the second Sunday in October and ends at this sanctuary. The “Da Ghisalba a Romano di Lombardia” circular route is designated as a hiking trail.

More destinations

For more travel ideas, discover Montello, Rota D'imagna, Fuipiano Valle Imagna, Oneta, Fino Del Monte, Romano Di Lombardia, Predore and Foresto Sparso.

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