Osio Sopra (
Bergamasque
The Bergamasque dialect is the western variant of the Eastern Lombard group of the Lombard language. It is mainly spoken in the province of Bergamo and in the area around Crema, in central Lombardy.
Bergamasque has official status in the p ...
: ) is a ''
comune
The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...
'' (municipality) of 5,306 inhabitants in the
province of Bergamo,
Lombardy,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
.
The history of Osio Sopra has significant links to
Osio Sotto
Osio Sotto ( Bergamasque: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about southwest of Bergamo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 11,097 and an ...
's.
Early settlements can be traced to Ancient Roman times, when an important communication road linked
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
to Bergamo passing through the bridge 'Ponte Corvo' in the Marne locality. In Bergamo, the last section of this road was in-fact named 'via Osio', highlighting the importance of the location.
During those times, Osio underwent an important process of centuriation, with which a first development of the 'pagus' took place; the name 'Osio' originates from the Patrician 'gens Otia' (or gens Oxia).
Among Osio Sopra's landmarks, the medieval Catholic church of San Zenone features good quality paintings of Lombard artists. Legend has it that this sacred church was built with materials from an ancient castle.
The Santuario della Madonna della Scopa is a chapel located on the border Osio Sopra shares with Osio Sotto. Built in the fifteenth century, it was initially much smaller than it is today, with the most recent extension added at the beginning of the twentieth century. Religious frescoes cover its inner walls. According to the legend, the name of the chapel ('Madonna della scopa' is Italian for 'Madonna of the broom') is due to a miraculous apparition in which the Virgin Mary intervened to clean up this chapel at a time in which it had been abandoned.
Finally, Palazzo Camozzi-Andreani, also known as Villa Andreani or more colloquially as Palazzo delle Gigine, was built during the eighteenth century as a library.
Osio Sopra's western border consists of the river
Brembo; along its shore, a number of natural reserves such as Bosco Astori are frequented by locals and visitors for recreational purposes.
Cities and towns in Lombardy
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