Stilt houses in Lonato

In the Lonato area the first evidence of human presence can be dated to the Mesolithic Age (10,000 years ago) but the most significant date back to the Bronze Age (second millennium BC) such as the pile-dwelling settlement of Polada, which gives its name to the so-called Culture of Polada, and the village of Lavagnone. In the 4th century BC Celtic tribes from central Europe settled here, while the Roman period is witnessed by the discovery of the remains of some important villas, near which in later times (11th and 12th centuries) churches were built such as the small church of S. Martino, the of S. Cipriano and the Parish Church of San Zeno, around which the first residential area of Lonato gathered.
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