Iseo Town
Iseo is a lovely and romantic town by the lake
Iseo is a lovely and romantic town by the lake, namely the Iseo lake (also called Sebino lake).
This picturesque village is very close to some of the most beautiful Northern Italy cities: Venice (worldwide famous for its canals and gondolas), Verona ( the city of Romeo and Juliet), Milan ( with its magnificent Duomo and Leonardo da Vinci’s The last supper) and also to Brescia and Bergamo.
Iseo is located in the heart of the well-known Franciacorta which is worldwide famous for the production of the wonderful wine Franciacorta.
Among the coastal villages of the lake, Iseo is the one which has better preserved its original medieval urban structure, even if some changes took places between the XV and XVIII centuries. The origins of the village are very old: its coast was inhabited since prehistoric times as stated by archaeological remains dating back to the Bronze Age (XIII century BC) found in 1999-2000 along Via per Rovato.
The name “Iseo” seems to come from the Goddess “Isis” worshipped during the Roman period; the favourable natural conditions allowed the settlement of a vicus as stated by the finding of a floor of a domus or villa dating back to the I century BC.
The importance of Iseo increased during the early medieval period thanks to its Pieve (parish church), harbour-market and castle which made it the most important village of the lake area. The first reference to a castle situated in Iseo is in the Polittico di S. Giulia, a document dating back to the end of the IX or beginning of the X century; as a matter of fact the list of the properties belonging to the monastery of Brescia, founded by Desiderio, King of the Lombards, mentions the presence of a court and a vineyard in the castle. Only some centuries later, during the late medieval period, the castle, which is situated on a rock on the south side, became the strategic stronghold for the military defence of the borgo.
The bond between Iseo and the I.S.E.O Institute
The romantic town of Iseo is widely well-known (both in Italy and abroad) for being “the Nobel Laureates’ town”. The bond between the professors awarded with the Nobel Prize and the lovely Italian village dates back to 1998, when Franco Modigliani came to Iseo with his wife Serena for vacation, for the first time in his life.
Modigliani immediately felt in love with the town of Iseo: not only he received the freedom of the city, but he also started to make some friends here in Iseo and right with those friends, in 1998, he found an institute which could promote the economic culture throughout the world. Modigliani and his friends decided to call the institute “I.S.E.O” in honour of the town itself: the acronym stands for Institute of Studies on Economics and Occupation.
Since 1998 the Institute works hard to fulfill the desire of his founder, Franco Modigliani, organizing every year several important conferences and summerschool focused on economics and actuality.
More than thirty Nobel Laureates came to Iseo since the date of its foundation to take part to the conferences organized by the institute: this is why the town of Iseo has started being known as “the Nobel Laureates’ town”.
Iseo is a lovely and romantic town by the lake, namely the Iseo lake (also called Sebino lake).
This picturesque village is very close to some of the most beautiful Northern Italy cities: Venice (worldwide famous for its canals and gondolas), Verona ( the city of Romeo and Juliet), Milan ( with its magnificent Duomo and Leonardo da Vinci’s The last supper) and also to Brescia and Bergamo.
Iseo is located in the heart of the well-known Franciacorta which is worldwide famous for the production of the wonderful wine Franciacorta.
Among the coastal villages of the lake, Iseo is the one which has better preserved its original medieval urban structure, even if some changes took places between the XV and XVIII centuries. The origins of the village are very old: its coast was inhabited since prehistoric times as stated by archaeological remains dating back to the Bronze Age (XIII century BC) found in 1999-2000 along Via per Rovato.
The name “Iseo” seems to come from the Goddess “Isis” worshipped during the Roman period; the favourable natural conditions allowed the settlement of a vicus as stated by the finding of a floor of a domus or villa dating back to the I century BC.
The importance of Iseo increased during the early medieval period thanks to its Pieve (parish church), harbour-market and castle which made it the most important village of the lake area. The first reference to a castle situated in Iseo is in the Polittico di S. Giulia, a document dating back to the end of the IX or beginning of the X century; as a matter of fact the list of the properties belonging to the monastery of Brescia, founded by Desiderio, King of the Lombards, mentions the presence of a court and a vineyard in the castle. Only some centuries later, during the late medieval period, the castle, which is situated on a rock on the south side, became the strategic stronghold for the military defence of the borgo.
The bond between Iseo and the I.S.E.O Institute
The romantic town of Iseo is widely well-known (both in Italy and abroad) for being “the Nobel Laureates’ town”. The bond between the professors awarded with the Nobel Prize and the lovely Italian village dates back to 1998, when Franco Modigliani came to Iseo with his wife Serena for vacation, for the first time in his life.
Modigliani immediately felt in love with the town of Iseo: not only he received the freedom of the city, but he also started to make some friends here in Iseo and right with those friends, in 1998, he found an institute which could promote the economic culture throughout the world. Modigliani and his friends decided to call the institute “I.S.E.O” in honour of the town itself: the acronym stands for Institute of Studies on Economics and Occupation.
Since 1998 the Institute works hard to fulfill the desire of his founder, Franco Modigliani, organizing every year several important conferences and summerschool focused on economics and actuality.
More than thirty Nobel Laureates came to Iseo since the date of its foundation to take part to the conferences organized by the institute: this is why the town of Iseo has started being known as “the Nobel Laureates’ town”.