Lovere is a lovely little town in the province of Bergamo, in Lombardy, placed at the northwest end of Lake Iseo and surrounded by a semicircle of mountains that gives the town a perfect and breathtaking natural frame.
If you take a walk around the city, you will notice that the houses have overhanging wooden roofs, typical of Switzerland, united with the heavy stone arcades of Italy.
Because of its beauty and uniqueness, Lovere is part of “The most beautiful villages in Italy” (I Borghi più belli d’Italia), an association that notes small Italian towns of strong artistic and historical interest. This year Lovere was chosen together with two other towns, Bienno and Monte Isola, to host from September 4 – 7 the annual festival named after the association.
“The most beautiful villages in Italy” was founded in March 2001, upon the instigation of the ANCI, National Association of Italian Municipalities, with the intent of helping to preserve, maintain and revitalize small centers and villages.
In fact hundreds of such towns, because they are outside the main tourist routes, are at risk of being forgotten, and experiencing the degradation, depopulation and abandonment that comes from obscurity.
These places are unique gems, unknown to most people, whose common reaction when they find out about them is surprise and amazement: how is it possible that such beautiful places are unknown?
Initially the group included a hundred villages, but later increased to 240. Places admitted to the association must meet specific requirements, such as integrity of the urban fabric, architectural harmony, a high quality of village life, artistic and historical heritage for public construction, and private services to citizens. What is important to the association is the authenticity of the town and its cultural heritage, because what people want to experience while visiting these centers is true local life.
The association holds within the villages, initiatives such as festivals, exhibitions, fetes, conferences and concerts that highlight artistic and architectural heritage, including the culture, history, gastronomy, and dialect, and involve local residents, authorities, municipalities, schools, cultural associations, poets and musicians.
Every year a different theme embraces the entire festival; this year it was water, a fundamental element that has influenced the history of each of the three towns hosting the festival.
Hundreds of stands from all the member towns across Italy participated in the festival. At the same time Lovere hosted the federation of “Le plus Beaux Villages de la Terre” (“The Most Beautiful Villages on Earth”) at its 6th meeting. Delegations from all over the world also participated, with representatives from France, Spain, Germany, Greece, Romania, Canada, and Japan.
The festival presented the first catalogue for the promotion of the “touristic product” connected to the character of the “borghi”, which will be presented at 2015 EXPO.
This festival is considered especially original because visitors are able to discover new places and taste local dishes from different towns of Italy which are outside the usual tourist itineraries.
For more information here are the contacts: www.lovereeventi.it, Tourist Office ITA Alto Sebino tel. 035 962178.
Enjoy the discovery of beautiful and secret Italian towns!
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