A weekend with the fishermen, discovering the secrets of Lake Iseo: a trip to Clusane, Part I

A blue surface that seems painted with the soft brushstrokes of a painter of other times, the lake furrowed by wild ducks that seem to know by heart every one of the wooden rowing boats of the little harbour, snow-white swans that sometimes come out of the water and make friends with the little dogs taken for a walk along the lakeside. A colourful multitude of boats moored among the white and blue posts of the pier, among which is composed the image of the ancient village dominated by the bell tower of the old church on one side and that of the surrounding mountains on the other. This is how the beautiful village of Clusane presents itself, a hamlet of Iseo since 1927, one of those places where the past as a fishing village lives in harmony with the present of a clear tourist vocation in a setting of tranquillity and poetry.

The pastel colours of the lake caress us also inside our home for this weekend: we are staying at the B&B La Casa di Gabri, located in a very convenient position a stone's throw from the lakeside. Furnished in a refined Provencal style, the rooms of the "suite and breakfast" give off a limpid, fresh, warm and family atmosphere. We settle into two of the three spacious suites, choosing the Gelsomino room, inspired by the hillside air we can breathe from the pretty little terrace with a view of the hills of Franciacorta, and the superior suite Lavanda, equipped with a large panoramic terrace overlooking the lake. The splendid room, with a jacuzzi bathroom inside it too, is like a field of Provencal lavender: the delicate shades of purple recall not only the scent, but also the healing properties of the plant.

The third room is dedicated instead to verbena, the versatile herb par excellence, just like the room, adaptable to the needs of guests. In the bathrooms we find excellent French courtesy products, and before long there will also be the Spa products of the nearby Gerard's company, particular also in that it is run by women only. "This B&B was born from a dream of mine, cultivated over many years following trips I made to England, always staying at bed and breakfasts. My wish is to take care of people's wellbeing and to make sure that their stay in Clusane d'Iseo is a pleasant and unforgettable experience that stays in their heart," the hostess Gabriella Bosio explains to us, a descendant of a historic family of restaurateurs of the place and owner of the Trattoria Al Porto, which she runs with genuine passion together with her sons Mattia and Daniele Marini.

The B&B is in a certain sense the crowning of a long and passionate activity dedicated to the guests and tourists who come every year to visit this jewel of a place. Each one then takes away their own memories, but some also leave something, a little object, a book. Many of the original furnishing objects that make up the delicate and elegant atmosphere of the suites come from Gabri's friends who gave them to her to contribute to the realisation of this beautiful dream. While we chat on the large terrace sipping fresh juices, we make plans for our weekend: if during the warm season the spacious pool and the jacuzzi set in the flowering garden are unmissable, in this spring period we can instead devote ourselves to regenerating trips in the area.

In this we are also greatly helped by the fact that La Casa di Gabri provides us with bicycles free of charge and we can even have packed lunches prepared with sandwiches, fruit and a nice bottle of Franciacorta. Among the activities that particularly inspire us is the motorboat trip to visit the Bellini boatyard, which houses the Riva museum, the most complete exhibition in the world of the extraordinary vintage Riva hulls. We can also take advantage of the green fee agreement with the nearby golf club, and after the sport pamper ourselves with the reading of a good book from the rich library of the B&B. When we return here during the summer, we will certainly spend a few afternoons at the public Origami beach which in the evening becomes a venue with music.

Gabri's cuddles will accompany us under the beach umbrella too: guests who go to the beach receive a little bag with a bathrobe, beach towel and sun products. An unmissable attraction of summer 2016 will certainly be the event The Floating Piers, designed and created by the New York artist of Bulgarian origin Vladimirov Yavachev Christo. The artist's installation will consist of a temporary bridge laid on the lake that for the first time will connect the Brescia shore at Sulzano with Monte Isola, the highest lake island in Europe. Everyone will therefore be able, free of charge, to experience the emotion of walking on the water for about three kilometres, feeling the waves beneath their feet. The walkway, which from 18 June to 3 July can be walked 24 hours a day, will be dismantled and recycled after the event.

While waiting to be able to walk on the water, we begin to do so on the lakeside of the historic centre of Clusane. Our walk is like a journey back in time that starts from a period photo on the tourist information sign, which portrays some fishermen of the village in the 1950s while they dyed their nets in a gigantic cauldron on the lake shore. At a certain point a gentleman approaches us, one of those portrayed in the photo, and he will be our guide, showing us the monumental cauldron still present near the benches of the park. "In my day the water came right up to here below. Where the boats are today, there was the reed bed. We dipped the nets in here, to dye them with the liquid obtained from chestnut husks," he explains. The lake rich in fish, and the gentle surrounding landscape had fascinated man since the dawn of history.

Clusane, whose place name probably derives from Clodius or from Chiusa, is one of the oldest settlements of the lake, once inhabited by pile-dwelling communities. From the presence of the Romans many finds have come down to us, such as thirteen tombstones, one of which, particularly important, dedicated to Jupiter, but along the lakeside one can also admire the remains of a Roman villa of the first-second century AD. In a certain sense, the masters of this village have always been the fish: the pike, the perch, the prawns, but above all the queen of the lake, that is the tench. In the Lombard age, precisely in this stretch of lake were the fishing reserves of the monastery of Santa Giulia of Brescia.

Subsequently, the Benedictine monks of Cluny too, to whom the chapel dedicated to Saints Gervasio and Protasio was donated, and who devoted themselves to reclaiming the marshy land, appreciated the lake's fish gifts. The village itself formed around the priory founded by the monks, who gathered peasants and fishermen around the monastery. During our walk we discover several places of the ancient castrum, such as the stone arch on via della Chiesa vecchia, the gate with a second door on via Molino and remains of Roman-era arches, as well as the bases of medieval houses. There were also two mills, but above all there was, and still is, a beautiful castle that stands on the promontory to the west of the old village.

Called the castle of Carmagnola (after the condottiero Francesco di Bussone, who was its lord for four years until 1432), the fortress was built in the fourteenth century and changed owners many times. Today the imposing building is a palace-castle, used as a noble residence since the Renaissance, but still provided with the original fortress features such as the deep defensive moat with characteristic stone arched bridges.