A small village that has great charm

GDN - Catremerio is part of Val Brembilla which is located in the province of Bergamo in the Lombardy region in Italy at 988 meters above sea level, a splendid alpine village on the slopes of Pizzo Cerro, rich in history, it enjoys unique architecture.

It was once reached by climbing the mule track from Brembilla, passing through the Borgo di Cerro and the Tröca, or from the old Strada Taverna which starts from the Bridges of Sedrina. Today it can be reached by car, in about 15 minutes from a comfortable asphalted road both from Zogno (Sant'Antonio Abbandonato) and from Brembilla, of which it is a hamlet, or from Zogno, along a comfortable asphalted road, which winds through meadows and woods, districts and farmhouses, with sweeping views over the Brembilla Valley.

In Catremerio it is possible to observe some characteristics of the rustic mountain village, with numerous elements still well preserved and with evident evidence of ancient rural activities. The village has the typical architectural elements of the peasant houses of the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries: vaulted interiors (silter), wooden balconies that connect the buildings, chimneys and tile roofs, drains traced in the pavement, votive shrines and many other details. Many of the houses are still inhabited and the peasant vocation of the village is evident, also evidenced by the numerous small stables.

In Catremerio at certain times of the year it is possible to admire the fantastic phenomenon of thermal inversion and have the perception of being supported by the clouds. In meteorology, the term thermal inversion indicates a particular phenomenon or condition of the vertical thermal profile of the earth's atmosphere characterized by an inverted vertical thermal gradient (i.e. positive) with respect to the norm (negative): in it therefore the temperature of the atmospheric layer involved increases with the altitude, instead of decreasing, thus keeping the clouds low and creating a fairytale landscape with houses and churches emerging from the fog.

The center of the small village is made up of two distinct districts: “Catremerio di qua“, degli Sgarbui (lawyers) and “Catremerio di là“, dei Balòss (smart), located near the church of San Gaetano. In the first, all the houses are arranged in a circle and overlook a small square where the stupendous architectural games made of external wooden staircases, balconies and lobbies that connect the houses stand out. The houses can be dated to around the eighteenth century and some dates are visible: 1738 and 1754 carved on the entrance vaults. Also worth noting is the characteristic passage portico that crosses a house and allows access to the mule track that leads to the other district and to the church.

On the ground floor of the various houses, the rooms are “silter“, once used as stables, alongside the kitchens characterized by a stone floor. Some of them retain the ancient fireplace, the pegna '(stove) and the sideboard. The windows and doors are of different sizes and shapes, with a prevalence of arched style. At the center of the narrow path that crosses the village of Catremerio, runs a small drainage channel of the roofs, which collects and conveys the water downstream, numerous fountains and wash houses near the village.

The second district, in which the dates 1546 and 1581 stand out engraved on the arches of some doors and a fresco of the sixteenth century depicting the piety and the coat of arms of the Carminati family, develops along the mule track that leads from the church to the cemetery with some original houses and others refurbished. The small church dates back to the early nineteenth century and stands on an eighteenth-century chapel dedicated to San Gaetano, patron saint of Catremerio.

The church has undergone several extensions, until it assumed its present size at the beginning of the twentieth century, a period in which the village had 310 inhabitants and became an independent parish by detaching itself from Brembilla. Since 1986 the parish of San Gaetano di Catremerio has been aggregated to Sant'Antonio Abbandonato. The feast of the patron is celebrated in the first half of August, with functions, processions and celebrations that last three days with a large influx of people and emigrants. Photographic reportage made by Roberto Magni and Comi Daniela Foto ReD Photographic Agenci - RedMagazine