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Museum of the Stele Lunigianesi - Pontremoli - Il Castello del Piagnaro, a stone giant
The city of Pontremoli rises at the foot of the Cisa Pass. Cited as the 33rd stop on Sigerico’s itinerary, it was a free commune between the 12th and 13th centuries and was defined by Frederick II as the “Key and Door of Tuscany”. The medieval village, developed between two rivers on one axis from Porta Parma to Porta Fiorentina, was developed to welcome merchants and pilgrims and given imposing defensive structures. Its focal point is the Piagnaro Castle, built in the 10th century to protect the residential area. It was destroyed, rebuilt and enlarged numerous times during the centuries. The castle has hosted the Stele Lunigianesi Statues Museum since 1975. The “Stele” are stone statues dateable to the 3rd to 1st millennium B.C. and represent the most ancient and important evidence of human presence in Lunigiana.
Filattiera – Filattiera area – Filattiera’s Historic Center
The Filattiera area gives us a series of evidence that dates back to the Middle Ages and beyond. The Pieve di Sorano rises on the ancient Via Francigena. The church occupied a place of great importance beginning at the end of the 6th century. Drawing nearer to the Filattiera historic center, visitors will note the Malaspina Castle, historic residence of Opizzino. Following the small interior roads, once protected by the village’s walls, we reach the church of San Giorgio. It preserves the epigraph of Leodgar, an important document dating back to the Lombards on the Christianization of the area. Once inside the center, visitors can see traces of the San Giacomo d’Altopascio hospital; the area is notable for the protection and hospitality that it gave to pilgrims that traveled along the Via Francigena.
Villafranca in the Lunigiana - Museo Etnografico della Lunigiana – Ancient knowledge along the Via Francigena
In 1181, Filippo Augusto King of France returned from the thrid crusade by traveling along the Via Francigena towards the north. In his Cronaca, he records the village of Villafranca as “Lealville”—a “free” villa exempt from customs and taxes where trade and business was done. It was a place of transit for merchants and pilgrims. The mercantile village, located along the Via Francigena at the crossing of two water sources and many roads leading towards Parma, Lucca and Genova, was defended by the Malnido Castle, was the center of ample possessions on the part of the Malaspina marquises, and protected by the Church of San Niccolò.
The area still conserves its fascinating history in the façade of the houses and in the coats-of-arms and signs sculpted on the rich doorways, which indicate the house of a notary thanks to the intricate work by artisans and merchants. The Ethnographic Museum of the Lunigiana is located in the area of the western gate and the ancient bridge on the Bagnone stream. The museum welcomes all visitors interested in learning more about the farming culture that characterized daily life for inhabitants of the area and was handed down from generation to generation. The museum boasts educational areas that instruct visitors on rites and traditions from the community. There are amulets against the evil eye and ex votos that testify to the devotion to saints venerated in local oratories and sanctuaries.
Bagnone - Museo Archivio della memoria - Il fiume Magra, a street of water along the Via Francigena
An educational exhibition and a DVD accompany visitors along the Magra River and its history. The materials explain the role of the river in the life of the community and battles for the military and political control of the Lunigiana. The area was historically divided between Malaspina feudal lords and Florentine domination. The Magra River was an obligatory channel for salt merchants going to Lombardy and medieval pilgrims who found hospitality at the San Caprasio Abbey in Aulla. The exhibit is the perfect occasion to understand this historically strategic territory.
Aulla - Abbazia e Museo di San Caprasio – Capital with dragons by Oberto Ferlendi
The Lunigiana boasts a capital with four dragons biting tree leaves. They have spirited eyes, ears like ferocious beasts and are tied together by serpents that make up their tails. Dragons, symbol of evil and dangers of the world, were supposed to have spoken to monks, as well as the residents and pilgrims that stayed in the nearby San Caprasio Abbey from the year 884. The capital is identical to another signed and preserved in the Parma National Gallery was attributed to a northern Italian sculptor from the first decade of the 13th century, Oberto Ferlendi. In 1517, the courtyard was invaded by weeds; in 1943, whatever was left was buried under rubble. In 2009, it once again housed fruit plants and medicinal herbs.
Massa - Castello Malaspina
The Malaspina Caste dominates the landscape with ample visibility on the coast and the Via Francigena. That characteristic determined the placement of a fortress during the high Middle Ages. The first written documentation dates back to the 12th century when the Emperor Federico Barbarossa donated a part of it to Obizzo Malaspina. During the 15th century, Massa became property of theMalaspina di Fosdinovo marquises who transformed the castle into a residence. The structure became a jail in 1946. The structure is the product of various stages of building, enlarging and modifications. The residential portion preserves notable frescoes both in the interior rooms and the exterior façade. The rooms house some pieces of furniture and a permanent exhibition including three Renaissance marble busts. The graffiti left by the former inmates on the walls and windows are particularly interesting.
Montignoso - Castello Aghinolfi
The castle is the fruit of numerous building projects through the course of the centuries that have modified the structure. The nearness to the sea permits control over the coast from the La Spezia Gulf to the Livorno port, and the its domination over the Via Francigena give the area an important strategic role. Inside the imposing octagonal Mastio, visitors can admire the results of the archeological dig and the phases of building during the 8th through the 10th century. The most interesting archeological finds are housed in museum fashion in the corresponding area. The walls that surround the archeological park have recently been restored and are now open to the public.
The city of Pontremoli rises at the foot of the Cisa Pass. Cited as the 33rd stop on Sigerico’s itinerary, it was a free commune between the 12th and 13th centuries and was defined by Frederick II as the “Key and Door of Tuscany”. The medieval village, developed between two rivers on one axis from Porta Parma to Porta Fiorentina, was developed to welcome merchants and pilgrims and given imposing defensive structures. Its focal point is the Piagnaro Castle, built in the 10th century to protect the residential area. It was destroyed, rebuilt and enlarged numerous times during the centuries. The castle has hosted the Stele Lunigianesi Statues Museum since 1975. The “Stele” are stone statues dateable to the 3rd to 1st millennium B.C. and represent the most ancient and important evidence of human presence in Lunigiana.
Filattiera – Filattiera area – Filattiera’s Historic Center
The Filattiera area gives us a series of evidence that dates back to the Middle Ages and beyond. The Pieve di Sorano rises on the ancient Via Francigena. The church occupied a place of great importance beginning at the end of the 6th century. Drawing nearer to the Filattiera historic center, visitors will note the Malaspina Castle, historic residence of Opizzino. Following the small interior roads, once protected by the village’s walls, we reach the church of San Giorgio. It preserves the epigraph of Leodgar, an important document dating back to the Lombards on the Christianization of the area. Once inside the center, visitors can see traces of the San Giacomo d’Altopascio hospital; the area is notable for the protection and hospitality that it gave to pilgrims that traveled along the Via Francigena.
Villafranca in the Lunigiana - Museo Etnografico della Lunigiana – Ancient knowledge along the Via Francigena
In 1181, Filippo Augusto King of France returned from the thrid crusade by traveling along the Via Francigena towards the north. In his Cronaca, he records the village of Villafranca as “Lealville”—a “free” villa exempt from customs and taxes where trade and business was done. It was a place of transit for merchants and pilgrims. The mercantile village, located along the Via Francigena at the crossing of two water sources and many roads leading towards Parma, Lucca and Genova, was defended by the Malnido Castle, was the center of ample possessions on the part of the Malaspina marquises, and protected by the Church of San Niccolò.
The area still conserves its fascinating history in the façade of the houses and in the coats-of-arms and signs sculpted on the rich doorways, which indicate the house of a notary thanks to the intricate work by artisans and merchants. The Ethnographic Museum of the Lunigiana is located in the area of the western gate and the ancient bridge on the Bagnone stream. The museum welcomes all visitors interested in learning more about the farming culture that characterized daily life for inhabitants of the area and was handed down from generation to generation. The museum boasts educational areas that instruct visitors on rites and traditions from the community. There are amulets against the evil eye and ex votos that testify to the devotion to saints venerated in local oratories and sanctuaries.
Bagnone - Museo Archivio della memoria - Il fiume Magra, a street of water along the Via Francigena
An educational exhibition and a DVD accompany visitors along the Magra River and its history. The materials explain the role of the river in the life of the community and battles for the military and political control of the Lunigiana. The area was historically divided between Malaspina feudal lords and Florentine domination. The Magra River was an obligatory channel for salt merchants going to Lombardy and medieval pilgrims who found hospitality at the San Caprasio Abbey in Aulla. The exhibit is the perfect occasion to understand this historically strategic territory.
Aulla - Abbazia e Museo di San Caprasio – Capital with dragons by Oberto Ferlendi
The Lunigiana boasts a capital with four dragons biting tree leaves. They have spirited eyes, ears like ferocious beasts and are tied together by serpents that make up their tails. Dragons, symbol of evil and dangers of the world, were supposed to have spoken to monks, as well as the residents and pilgrims that stayed in the nearby San Caprasio Abbey from the year 884. The capital is identical to another signed and preserved in the Parma National Gallery was attributed to a northern Italian sculptor from the first decade of the 13th century, Oberto Ferlendi. In 1517, the courtyard was invaded by weeds; in 1943, whatever was left was buried under rubble. In 2009, it once again housed fruit plants and medicinal herbs.
Massa - Castello Malaspina
The Malaspina Caste dominates the landscape with ample visibility on the coast and the Via Francigena. That characteristic determined the placement of a fortress during the high Middle Ages. The first written documentation dates back to the 12th century when the Emperor Federico Barbarossa donated a part of it to Obizzo Malaspina. During the 15th century, Massa became property of theMalaspina di Fosdinovo marquises who transformed the castle into a residence. The structure became a jail in 1946. The structure is the product of various stages of building, enlarging and modifications. The residential portion preserves notable frescoes both in the interior rooms and the exterior façade. The rooms house some pieces of furniture and a permanent exhibition including three Renaissance marble busts. The graffiti left by the former inmates on the walls and windows are particularly interesting.
Montignoso - Castello Aghinolfi
The castle is the fruit of numerous building projects through the course of the centuries that have modified the structure. The nearness to the sea permits control over the coast from the La Spezia Gulf to the Livorno port, and the its domination over the Via Francigena give the area an important strategic role. Inside the imposing octagonal Mastio, visitors can admire the results of the archeological dig and the phases of building during the 8th through the 10th century. The most interesting archeological finds are housed in museum fashion in the corresponding area. The walls that surround the archeological park have recently been restored and are now open to the public.
