Gussago

There are records dating back to the year 958, indicating that Gussago was once owned by the monastery of Leno. In the 18th century the town was a holiday residence for the nobility, and when the tramway opened, it became a Sunday destination for visitors from Brescia, drawn by the possibility of outdoor walks to country churches and the traditional grilled meat or "spiedo". This is a town with many notable sacred buildings, such as the 15th century parish church of St Mary, with its polygonal apse, based on a pre-existing semicircular structure from the 9th-10th century, visible from the bell tower. Inside there is a fine pulpit in the Longobard style, adorned with 8th-century geometric and naturalistic symbols, and frescoes by Paolo da Caylina. Dominating Gussago from the top of the Barbisone hill is the "Santissima", a former Dominican complex built in the 15th century and then converted into a holiday residence in the neo-Gothic style, around 1820. During the whole of the 19th century the building was an important cultural centre, hosting leading artists such as Rodolfo Vantini, Gian Battista Gigola, Luigi Basiletti and Angelo Inganni.