The notary Bernardo Biancardi (17th century) tells about a «very strong tower» made by the Longobard lords of Vione to protect themselves from the Franks «above the mountain of Bles». The author writes that «One can see however still today many lime walls with pike stone so petrified that one can break more easily the stone than the lime itself». The toponymy has saved a trace of the existence of the fortress in the names of Canalì de la Tor and Tor dei Pagà, used in the books of the Vicinie (Neighbours) in the town archive of Vione (17th-19th centuries) and still today by the residents. Since the 1970s some excavations have been made, the latest ones of which, with the scientific direction of the Superintendence for the architectural and land properties for the districts of Brescia, Cremona and Mantua and the participation of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Brescia, have brought to light the foundations of a large defensive complex, datable at least to the 13th century. At the Vione town hall one can visit the exhibition Archaeological Vione. History recovered, where some findings are shown from the excavations of the 1970s, dating back to Longobard times (6th-8th centuries).
IN THE SURROUNDINGS
In Vione: the ethnographic Museum ‘l Zuf; the parish church of St. Remigio; the ancient medieval hamlet with the remains of the six tower houses protecting the Polagra castle; the ancient Venetian sawmill at the mouth of Val di Canè; the parish churches of the hamlets; Dosso Bergino; the sanctuary of Madonna di Cortaiolo.