We went to Padernello to visit the Martinengo castle, and to our great surprise we discovered that the small rural village, with about a hundred inhabitants, is itself a jewel to be admired.

We just want to quote here a description we found while surfing the Internet and which, in our opinion, completely reflects the soul of the small village:
‘A small village of less than a hundred inhabitants, almost a miniature.
A small forest populated by thousands of snowdrops.
A hard land of toil and sweat, where it is not uncommon to still smell the scent of elderberries.
The small rural village of Padernello, in the Bassa Bresciana, still preserves some traces of what those areas were like before the cementing and the thoughtless 'development'.
As in je past, the village remains with an agricultural vocation, although unfortunately with intensive monoculture and livestock farming.

Despite this and even today, near the castle moat, a colourful kingfisher lives, a heron flies elegantly over the surface of the water, while hares hop here and there among the fields.
On sultry summer nights, it is easy to come across a field full of fireflies; there, if you listen, you can still hear the ghost of the White Lady'.
[from www.castellodipadernello.it: vivi il borgo/]

For 'a bit of history' and 'to learn more', see part two.