Progetto Comenius 2008-2010. Prima parte

1. HUNGARY ITALY +

2. ITALY

3. LOMBARDY BERGAMO

5. Province of Bergamo

6. Albino is the village where Romero High School is…

8. Our rivers…

9. Our lakes…

10. MONTISOLA

11. Our mountains…

14. VERTOVA VALLEY

19. Albino is a town with 17800 inhabitants and it's 12 km from Bergamo. It's 347 meters above the sea level and it includes 9 fractions: Albino, Abbazia, Bondo Petello, Casale, Comenduno, Desenzano, Dossello, Fiobbio, Vall'Alta. TERRITORY The village is situated on the right of the river Serio, with the fractions of Comenduno and Desenzano al Serio located north of the same main town. On the opposite side of the Seriana Valley, there is Lujo Valley. In this valley, there are a lot of fractions like Vall'Alta, Fiobbio, Abbazia, Dossello and Casale. Albino

20. ART Albino was a roman settlement and among the most important findings of the XVII century, we have the grave stele of Ilario Furio with old decorations. Now, it's in a parish church of Bergamo. In the historical centre and in different fractions, there are numerous detached houses and palaces built by the richest families of the area. The most interesting are: Solari's house in Monsignor Carrara street and Spini Guffanti's house in Carnovali's square, with frescos painted by Giovan Battista Moroni. Moroni's house at Bondo Petello is also very interesting. The original structure is intact; besides, there is also a peasant lodge with a tombstone edificated in memory of the biggest artist born in 1525. The town is full of historical MONUMENTS and the most important are: San Giuliano's church: The parish church of the chief town, which is dedicated to St Giuliano, dates back to 898. It was reconstructed in neoclassic style in the XIX century and it has a lot of valuable paintings of Giovan Battista Moroni and Enea Salmeggia. The bell tower dates back to 1497 and it was edificated by Fanzago.

22. The village of Gromo has about 1300 inhabitants and is located on the right side of the river Serio, in the Upper Seriana Valley. The village lies on a rocky promontory located up to 675 mt. above sea level and it is surrounded by beautiful mountains covered for the most part with trees. The village mainly develops around the Castle Ginami, built in 1226 by a descendant of the family Ginami de Licini.The place was famous in ancient times for its mines of iron and silver and the resulting craft. Gromo

23. The traditional economy based on timber and its processing has partly been replaced, in more recent times, by the one linked to tourism. Both summer and winter attract tourists. (winter sports are concentrated in the area of Boario-Spiazzi-Vodala, where skiing and Nordic skiing is practised.) The territory of Gromo is very rich and varied in terms of natural beauty. In Gromo there are also some museums: -The Natural Ecomuseum -The Parchment Museum And Hall of arms -The Parish Museum

27. Gazzaniga Gazzaniga is a little village and it s located in the middle of the Seriana Valley at just 18 km from Bergamo (the big town). Near this village crossed by the river Serio there are three fractions: Rova, Orezzo and Masserini and there are 5000 inhabitants. The most characteristic and historical places are: the old street called in dialect Ela and the S. Ippolito church. Furthermore, not far from Gazzaniga there is a very little fraction called S. Rocco. It’s very important above all for the little chapel in classical style, where there are precious painting and where people can celebrate marriages.

28. Fiorano al Serio Giordano is a little village in the middle of the Seriana Valley, it has about 3000 inhabitants. Its fraction is Semonte and the neighbouring villages are Cene, Gazzaniga, Casnigo and Vertova; Fiorano is 19 Km far from Bergamo. The Saint George’s church is a very important monument because it was built in 1700 and there are famous mosaics and paintings; the patron Saint is St. Giorgio Martyr and it’s celebrated on 23th April. The most traditional competition is the “egg’s running”: this is a race of approximately 200 metres. The partecipants have to run with an egg on a spoon in their mouths. If you want to have fun you can go to a big playground.

29. Villa di Serio A little of History… The name Villa di Serio comes from “Villa Ripae Serii”, that means the village situated on the bank of the river Serio. Villa di Serio was already populated in prehistoric times. It was occupied by the Lombard, who were our ancestors. In 774, Carlo Magno invaded the territory, and the village was expanded. Region Lombardy Inhabitants 6.427 Surface 4,56 km² Distance from Bergamo 7 km Altitude 275 m above sea level Patron Saint St. Stephen Puclic Holiday 26 December

30. The curch of San Stephen was built by Luca Luchini, in the middle of the XVII century, in Baroque style. Inside there are many frescoes of the XVI century. It is very beautiful. Next to it, there is also the chapel of San Lorenzo. Other important buildings are: Villa Carrara and the Sanctuary of the Holy Mary of the good advice. VILLA CARRARA Sports… Villa di Serio is also village which is very active in sports, in fact there is a football team, a basketball team and a volleyball team. There is also a big gym, where you can do a lot of sports like bowling, athletics and kick boxing. Other sports practiced are: cycling, hunting, and freeclimbing.

31. It’s located in Lombardia, in the province of Bergamo. Selvino is on the plateau between mount Poieto and mount Purito, which are behind our school in Albino. This plateau has an altitude of 960 m. above sea level so to reach the top you have to travel on a winding road or take the cableway, it takes just 8 min to get to Selvino. It’s a touristic location, there are in fact lots of restaurants and hotels. It’s a very beautiful place where you can relax, but also practice sports. For example there is a new swimming-pool, a small pitch where you can play football, outdoor tennis courts and , since 2009, there has also been an indoor tennis court; you can play golf or go on hikes in the mountain (if you’re lazy, don’t worry: there is a cableway that brings you up to the peak) , in winter you can also sky or ice-skate and if you love extreme sports there is also a sky-diving centre which is only 30 min by car from Selvino . Selvino Inhabitants 2021 Surface area 6 km2 Altitude 960 m a.s.l. Distance from Bergamo 22km

32. There is a big variety of activities for people of all ages: dancing lessons (walzer, tango, liscio, etc.) and card games for elderly people, team games for children. In our village you can do any kind of sports, you can dance, play, meet new people and enjoy typical dishes (like polenta , salame, cotechino, etc.) ! Some pastimes are expensive and some others are very cheap or free, anyway…if you don’t want to spend money at all you can simply enjoy the nature and relax…so if you’ve decided to spend your time here you can be sure that you will have a good time! PS=Bars and coffee shops are very nice and they have delicious cakes and brioches! They are perfect also for the HAPPY HOUR!!

33. A jump into the history of Selvino The first paper, that testify the existence of Selvino, originally called Salvino, dates back to 955.The village , located in an advantageous place for the medieval commerce, was founded by Salvino Gritti , whose surname was changed to Grigis a very common family name in our area. In the XVIII century a Swissman introduced the culture of the potatoes. Selvino, in the past, was a village of countrymen, but after the touristic boom modern houses , hotels and restaurants were built. Now Selvino is a “popular” touristic location. Monuments Near the road that leads to the Seriana Valley there is the Holy Mary of Perello. It ‘s situated the woods and it was built in the XVI century. There is a legend that says that the Holy Mary appeared four times to a countryman asking him to build a church. Inside this church there are some old frescos.

34. PIARIO Piario is situated in the upper Seriana valley on the plateau near the river Serio, 539mt. above sea level and it is 36km far from Bergamo, and 2km from Clusone. It is encircled by the mountains and the pinewoods and it is divided into quarters. It is a very ancient and historical village: in the church there are still a lot of frescos dating back to the ‘400. The name Piario comes from pre-Celtic language and from Latin. It is also a village that believes in the important of its traditions that are kept alive by two associations: “la cumpagnia del fil de fer”, a theatrical and cultural team and by a group “Apiarium” whose propose is to keep alive the history and culture of my little village.

35. Cene The origin of the name Cene derives from the latin Caenum, that means “mud”, because in this place the water of the river Serio stagnated. Cene is an italian town with 4.143 inhabitants in the province of Bergamo in Lombardy. Geographically it's situated on the left of the river Serio, in the Seriana valley at the mouth of the Rossa valley and at the feet of the Altino mountain; it’s 17 km from Bergamo. The village is formed by the union of two ancient suburbs called “Cene di Sopra” and “Cene di sotto” (existing since 1035), separated by the stream Doppia.

36. There are also two suburbs: “Monte Bò” and “Valle Rossa”. For those who love sports there is, along the river, a cycling area. This cycling area Links a lot of villages of the seriana valley like Comenduno, alzano, nembro as far as Clusone in the upper part of the valley. In 1965 in the territory of Cene thanks to a landslide in the north of the village, the priest Antonio Canova discovered a layer rich of fossils of just a few centimetres. In this place, were found fish and shellfish fossils, but also some flying reptiles (Pterosauro). The presence of some sea-fossils testify that in this area once there was the sea, but the presence of some flying reptiles points out that near this place there were also some emerged lands. concerning THE HISTORY…

37. Furthermore there are also four churches, the most important one is S.Zenone’s church, that is situated in the centre of the village, built on the foundations of an old building of the 1700. Other quite known historical sites are the “Torre del Mazzo” in via Bellora. Its foundations that were built by the Romans in the XII century and the ancient wash-house located in via Bernardo Fanti.

38. Gandino The territory Gandino is a municipality in the province of Bergamo in the italian region of Lombardy, located about 70Km north est of Milan and about 20 Km of Bergamo. Gandino contains the fractions of Barzizza and Cirano. It has a population of 5651 inhabitants and a surface ofv 29.1 square kilometres. It lies between 425 and 1637 metres above the sea level. S. Giovanni Bosco Church Leisure Centre Was built between 1905 and 1906. After the fire of 28th February 2000, the church leisure centre has been rebuilt, and now it's a place where the teenagers love meeting, watching film in the new cinema, playing football in the new synthetic footbal field, and having a great fun together.

39. The basilica Built in 1300, the Basilica of Saint Maria Assunta is the most important masterpiece of the village: it's uge, imposing and magestic. The building contein ten altars, a lot of preciousespictures, frescoes, a very ancient organ, colums and paviment in valuable marbles. Sky diving club For people who love extreme sports, on the Farno mountains (in Gandino), there is a sky diving club, where you can learn to doing in security this adventurous sport with qualified experts. This club is one of the most beautiful of the north Italy!

41. Gorno is a small village situated in the upper part of Seriana Valley and it has about 1800 inhabitants. This village is 30 kilometers far from Bergamo and it is about 15 kilometers far from Albino. Gorno is a village at the beginning of a small valley, called Riso Valley and it’s surrounded by various mountains, for example the Grem and de Alben Mountains. In the area of Gorno a lot of people go on enchanting naturalistic hikes in the mountains, in fact this village has ever been a vacation place, in particular for people who want to leave their polluted towns and also the summer heat waves. Gorno

42. Gorno is knows for his mines where the inhabitants of the village, and people of other villages, worked for the extraction of a lot of minerals from which Piombo and Zinco were derived. These mines were closed in 1983 and it was a shock for all the workers who had to leave Gorno and look for another job in the other village near Gorno and also abroad. Today in Gorno there are a museum where it’s possible to watch some documentaries to discover the ancient mines and the different ways minerals were extracted. Gorno is also twin with the city of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, in Western Australia where the older miners went to apply for a new work in the Australian Mines. Today in this small village there aren’t any industrial activities but there are some small hand-crafted activities and a few families who are devoted to an “Agrosilvopastorale” activity, which means agriculture and sheep farming.

43. Pradalunga Pradalunga is a small village of about 4500 inhabitants and it’s about 15 kilometers far from Bergamo, in the Seriana Valley. It’s 350 meters above sea level and there’s also a small fraction named Cornale in the south of the village. In Pradalunga there are lots of characteristic places and ancient buildings, such as the houses of the old village that were built in the Fifteenth century, with river pebbles and are still inhabited.

44. The castellana (in the old village) The village is famous throughout Italy because there is the Museum of coti stones and the caves from which they have been extracted since ancient times. The coti stones had already been used in Ancient Roman Era to sharpen cutting tools like sickles and swords and they were exported by the inhabitants of Pradalunga all over Europe, especially in the Nineteenth century.

45. The coti stones We can find some interesting and ancient buildings also in the fraction of Cornale, for example the nice church dedicated to Saints Fermo and Rustico. It was built in the Seventeenth century in the North of the village; initially it was dedicated to Saint Lucia and it’s still used to celebrate marriages, even if there’s a new and wide church in the village, now. The small Church of Cornale is known for its perfect sculptures and magnificent paintings that have been partially removed and transported to the new church. The small Church of Saints Fermo and Rustico In the area of Pradalunga and Cornale it’s possible to go on enchanting naturalistic hikes on the hills and in the mountains or along the Serio river that flows in the south of the two villages. You can also visit some small churches that were built in the mountains, such as Forcella Sanctuary in Pradalunga or Saint Maria of Misma in Cornale. These churches were involved in many historical events, like the events of The Second World War.

46. Nembro ( from latin language “Nembrum”) is an Italian small town in the province of Bergamo, in Lombardy; it’s about 9 km from Bergamo; it has 11.612 inhabitants and it’s situated on the right bank of the river Serio, in the Seriana valley. Nembro FRACTIONS In the Nembro there are a lot of fractions. The mains ones are: GAVARNO: situated in the Gavarnia’s valley where the Gaverina stream flows on the left bank of the river Serio. VIANA: an area south of Nembro, near the village of Alzano Lombardo. LONNO: it’s a very small area in the mountain that has had a recent building development and it’s having a demographic increase.

47. ATTRACTIONS St. Martin’s church was built in 1424 and completely renovated from 1752 to 1777; it’s the biggest church in the diocese of Bergamo and it has 25 masterpieces. St. Martin was a bishop and a confessor that went to Bergamo from Tours in France for helping poor people. He’s still venerated as a saint by the Catholic, Orthodox and Coptic Church. His father was an important official of the Roman’s Empire and he gave him the name Martin in honor of Mars that was the god of war. Martin converted to christianity and became monk in the French region of Poitiers.

48. LIBRARY Nembro’s library was built in 1897 and it was a school, but for many years it was inhabited. Since 2007 it’s one of the biggest and most modern libraries of Lombardy. There are more than 67.000 books and it’s open from Monday to Saturday almost all the day. It’s a wonderful place because, there, you can relax yourself , read a book or a magazine , watch a film, listen to music, surf the net and if you are thirsty or hungry you can have a snack too. There is also a children room, where parents can bring and let their little sons who can play and enjoy all together.

50. Bergamo is divided into two parts: HIGH TOWN and LOW TOWN

51. LOW TOWN

57. Palazzo della ragione

58. Duomo

59. Il Campanone

60. Santa Maria Maggiore’s church

61. la Cappella Colleoni

62. The Rocca

63. Accademia Carrara

64. Donizetti teathre : it’s the most important teathre in Bergamo and it’s in the town centre.

66. ORIO CENTER It was opened on 24th of November 1998, it’s the biggest shopping centre in Italy and one of the most known in Europe.

72. Bergamo traditions

73. Carnival Carnival is celebrated in February, during the Carnival days there are traditional parades where you have to wear funny costumes. It’s also common to cook typical sweets called ‘’frittelle’’ or ‘’chiacchere’’, dusted with sugar or chocolate. The biggest festivals take place on shrove Tuesday, the last day of Carnival. On this day, children like throwing confetti at each other: also adults like dressing up, and they have fun together. Carnival is celebrated all over Italy, especially in Venice: here very beautiful and expensive masks are sold all year long. In Bergamo carnival isn’t as important as in Venice but we have fun too, and wear the costumes of like our typical masks, Arlecchino and Brighella.

75. It was a tradition that the families in Lombardy used to cook lamb and eggs, instead in Bergamo, where the “Casonsei” are the typical dish. The typical dishes which are eaten at Christmas are far more important than the one’s eaten at Easter, and they are all nutricious. The food that was “poor” and then it has became popular and “rich”. “ Eggs”, for example, are the most important symbol of Easter, and they are cooked in different ways as, for example, sweets and made of chocolate or hard-boiled, to be eaten on Sunday Easter. It’s also a tradition to paint them with lots of colours and children love doing this. Easter

76. In lower Bergamo, meals always start with hard-boiled eggs and salami, followed by “Torta Pasqualina”(which is a typical cake made of spinach, milk-curd and fresh cream) and the traditional “Ravioli”(stuffed with ham), and as a main course, Baked-Lamb with rosemary. For dessert you can have the traditional “Colomba” (a cake in the shape of a dove) or the “Sbrisolona”, a delicious cake which is rather difficult to make. In the province of Bergamo, the “Casonsei” are more popular than “Ravioli” “ Casonsei” are stuffed with meat or vegetables with a grand quantity of cheese Other dishes are snails, with stewed vegetables.

77. Saint Alessandro S. Alessandro is the patron of Bergamo, and he lived between the III and the IV century. He was a commander in a century called Tebea that worked in the East and after that he had been transferred to the West. He was asked to persecute the Christians but he refused it. Some of them were killed but he saved himself. He escaped to Milan and then he was imprisoned. Then he escaped again and he arrived in Bergamo where he started to preach and to convert many people. But in 303 he was found and captured again.

78. He was condamned to decapitation, and he died on the 26th August in Bergamo (day of the celebration nowadays), where there is the “Sant’ Alessandro in Colonna” Church. S. Alessandro is always represented like a soldier with a flag with a white lily. Alessandro was really a soldier, native from Bergamo, tortured and killed because he didn’t refuse the Christian faith. The sacred body of S. Alessandro is venerated in the Chapel of Pescolanciano (in Molise).

79. Saint Lucia S.Lucia is an ancient tradition which is typical of some parts of Italy, but it’s also known in the north of Europe. This saint became famous when some bad fellows, gouged her eyes and so she became blind. Every year on the night of 12th December she parades through the streets of the villages on the back of her small donkey which carries presents and sweeties for everyone. But If you have been naughty, she will give you some coal! All children love this woman and in Italy it’s common to write a letter to her. In this letter they list the presents that they would like to receive. S.Lucia of course doesn’t exist anymore, but all children are happy to think that she might exist somewhere over the stars.

80. Christmas Christmas is on 25th December; in Italy it is a big and religious festivity that you must pass with your relatives. People like decorating Christmas trees and building a crib. On 24th December we like having dinner with the whole family and going to church, for the midnight celebration. On 25th you can have fun with your parents, eating pandoro or panettone (typical Italian Christmas cakes) and drinking some wine.

82. Pasta

83. mmm...Pizza!

84. Polenta

85. Branzi Branzi is a typical cheese of the High Brembana Valley and it was named after Branzi, a small village in that valley. It is a soft cheese, which is similar to the Emmental cheese; it has a sweet and delicate taste which gets stronger and a little spicy when it ages. It’s also very nutricious. At first it was produced in summer only by using whole milk, but then they started to produce it also during the rest of the year by using medium fat cheese. This was aimed at getting the cream that was used to make butter, a very precious product for the inhabitants of the valley who were very poor and needed butter also as an exchange item. After World War 1, when the price of butter decreased, the farmers started to produce fat cheese all the yaer.

86. Taleggio It’s a sort of cheese named after the high valley of the Bergamo area. At first this cheese was called “stracchino” and this name was used to refer to all the kinds of soft cheese with a square shape. It’s soft, fat, and made with cow milk.

87. Polenta & Osèi It’s the most popular typical sweet of Bergamo. It’s made with sponge cake stuffed with chocolate and nut cream, covered with apricots, jam and rhum. On this cake, wich has a layer of polenta, we put some little birds marzipan covered with chocolate.

88. Chestnuts

89. Tipical wines

90. OUR SCHOOL!

91. Our school when the students are having this kinds of project works. COMENIUS PROJECT and OTHERS EXCHANGE PROJECTS…

92. Rooms for meetings

93. Our gym

94. One of the IT labs

95. Our chemistry lab

96. Our languages lab

99. And now… Our exchange week in Italy!

100. Monday 08-03-2010

101. Milan 09-03-2010

102. Venice 11-03-2010

103. Bergamo 13-03-2010

104. Farewell party!

105. PROJECT WORK

106. OUR CRAZY PHOTOS!!!

107. Hungary in Italy!

108. I LOVE HUNGARY !!!!! ITALY IN HUNGARY!

110. WE LOVE HUNGARY !

111. NOT THE END … TO BE CONTINUED!