Contrada di Segra...

This small quarter was located near the west (defensive) walls in the west part of the village.

According to local traditions the quarter name comes from the fact that, during the plague that struck Lovere in 1520, the nearby San Giovannino al Rio Chapel was used as parish church and the surrounding area as burial place for the plague victims.

Actually, the place name “Segradino” can be found in the notarial acts of the 15th century when the area was already highly populated. In the beginning, it was likely to be related to some areas immediately adjoining the church of San Giovanni al Rio.

In this quarter were located woollen-mill traders’ and craftsmen’s houses and, in the 15th century, also woollen-cloth factories and “chiodere” (wooden drying racks upon which woollen cloth was hung up on nails).

The decline of woollen mills in the 18th and 19th centuries led people to abandon and demolish these buildings in order to get vegetable gardens.

In the 15th century Bonzanini’s and Salvatoni de Gandino’s houses were located in this quarter.

THE TOWER OF THE ALGHISIS
THE CIVIC TOWER
SANCTUARY OF LOVERE SAINTS
ST. GEORGE’ S CHURCH
ST. JOHN’S SANCTUARY ON MOUNT CALA

THE TOWER OF THE ALGHISIS
It’s a tower dating back to the XIII century which is also called, according to the Statute of Lovere of 1650, the tower of the family of the Suoli. In other historical documents it is mentioned as the tower of the family of the Buosi, which probably meant of the family of the Bosio. No historical reference to the family of the Alghisi in relation to this tower located in via Matteotti has yet been found.

THE CIVIC TOWER
It was rebuilt during the XIX century. On the tower there’s a clock and a fresco of a lion, symbol of the Venetian rule, bearing the date 1442.
The fresco below is a false, a part of the original fresco beeing now kept in the office of the town hall while the other part got destroyed.
The Civic Tower, which dates back to the XIV century, lies on the remains of the castle of the Celeri family.

SANCTUARY OF LOVERE SAINTS
The sanctuary is dedicated to Christ, King of the Virgins, and it was consecrated by the bishop of Brescia in 1938. It was built in honour of the Loverese Bartolomea Capitanio and Vincenza Gerosa, who were canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1950. The mosaics and symbols along the porticoed entrance stairs represent the Beatitudes and the Works of Mercy in harmony with the charitable aims of the Congregation “Sisters of Charity” (nowadays known as “Sisters of Holy Child Mary”), which was founded in Lovere by the two saints in 1832. The Congregation spread over many countries not only in Europe, but also in Asia, America and Africa.

Info: tel. +39 035.960147

ST. GEORGE’ S CHURCH
Lovere provostal church was built at the end of the 14th century over the previous medieval tower Soca. It houses a magnificent painting placed on the inner by the Flemish painter Jean de Herdt (1657). The altar-piece of the left altar painted by G. Paolo Cavagna (1556-1627) and the altar-piece of the high altar attributed to Jacopo Palma il Giovane (1544-1628) deserve special mention.

ST. JOHN’S SANCTUARY ON MOUNT CALA
St. John’s Sanctuary on mount Cala was built at the end of the 14th century probably on the remains of a Medieval fortress belonging to the noble Celery family. The church underwent a radical transformation in 1606 and has remained the same since then.
Featuring a semi-circular window facing towards the west in the upper part of the façade, the front of the Sanctuary has a fully-enclosed porch except for the arched main door with an iron gate.
Inside the church, the nave has four side altars in marble dedicated to St. Rocco, St. Carlo, St. Fermo and the Virgin of Hope. The altarpiece behind the main altar is a valuable work of art by Antonio Cifrondi from Clusone (17th century).