Solaro (Gottolengo)

Solaro is a large farmstead complex, considered a former frazione of the comune of Gottolengo.

The name almost certainly comes from the Latin solarium, meaning "sunny terrace".

The place probably began in the Middle Ages as a curtis (estate) of the abbey of Leno. Most of its inhabitants were shepherds or farmers. In 1517 a local noble family built a kind of fortified manor in the middle of the settlement. Many farmsteads soon rose around it and the population grew; a water mill was built, along with a church dedicated to Saint Anthony the Abbot, which still exists, built on the remains of an earlier one. During the last century the hamlet reached about 1,500 inhabitants and even had a school, which closed in the 1970s and was later demolished for safety reasons. With the school closed and people moving to the industrial cities, the hamlet emptied until nobody was left.

Text: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · translated from Italian