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Barga is a medieval town and ''
comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...
'' of the
province of Lucca The province of Lucca ( it, provincia di Lucca) is a province in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Lucca. It has an area of and a total population of about 390,000. There are 33 '' comuni'' (singular: ''comune'') in the pr ...
in
Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...
, central
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
. It is home to around 10,000 people and is the chief town of the "Media Valle" (mid valley) of the
Serchio River The Serchio (; la, Auser) is the third longest river in the Italian region of Tuscany at , coming after the Arno at and the Ombrone, . By mean rate of flow, it is the second largest, smaller than Arno but larger than Ombrone. The principal sou ...
.


History

In the 9th century, Barga is mentioned as a family feud of the Lombard family of Rolandinghi. In the 11th century, Barga obtained from
Matilda of Tuscany Matilda of Tuscany ( it, Matilde di Canossa , la, Matilda, ; 1046 – 24 July 1115 or Matilda of Canossa after her ancestral castle of Canossa), also referred to as ("the Great Countess"), was a member of the House of Canossa (also known as ...
broad privileges including tax exemptions. However, formally Barga was still subordinate to
Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as one ...
. When Matilda died, she left all her properties, including the Serchio Valley, to the Church, which was not a popular decision, causing a war. Despite the war, Barga was not looted, apparently because of the presence of the nuncius sent to the valley by the
Pope Gregory IX Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...
. As the result of the war, the diocese of Lucca was abolished and split between several parties, including
Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the ci ...
. Barga took advantage of it, and in the 13th century helped Pisa against Lucca, but in 1236 was finally subordinated to Lucca. After these events, Barga developed as an important trade city which had connections with
Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label= Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and '' comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. A town, and seat o ...
over mountain roads. The city grew as a castle surrounded by a line of walls, of which two gates (''Porta Reale'' and ''Porta Macchiaia'') have survived. The town was well known during the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
for the manufacture of silk threads which were exported to major centres such as
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...
, its mills powered by the hydraulic power of the nearby creeks. In the Middle Ages, Lucca and Pisa battled frequently to conquer the wealthy town and the surrounding territory, and for a time Barga was part of the Florentine dominion, later Duchy and
Grand Duchy of Tuscany The Grand Duchy of Tuscany ( it, Granducato di Toscana; la, Magnus Ducatus Etruriae) was an Italian monarchy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1859, replacing the Republic of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence. In th ...
. Between 1331 and 1859 Albiano owed its allegiance to the Florentine State. It became part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. Since 1923 Barga is part of the province of Lucca. The region was part of the
Gothic Line The Gothic Line (german: Gotenstellung; it, Linea Gotica) was a German defensive line of the Italian Campaign of World War II. It formed Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's last major line of defence along the summits of the northern part of ...
in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, and was the scene of fierce fighting between the Allies and Germans from October 1944 until April 1945, especially during the
Battle of Garfagnana The Battle of Garfagnana ( it, Battaglia della Garfagnana), known to the Germans as Operation Winter Storm (''Unternehmen Wintergewitter'') and nicknamed the "Christmas Offensive" (Italian: ''Offensiva di Natale''), was a successful Axis offensiv ...
at the end of December 1944.


Geography

Barga lies north of the provincial capital,
Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as one ...
. It is overlooked by the village of Albiano, a ''
località A ''località'' is an inhabited place in Italy that is not accorded a more significant distinction in administrative law such as a ''frazione'', ''comune'', ''municipio'', ''circoscrizione'', or ''quartiere''. The word is cognate to English ''loc ...
'' of Barga, which in the 10th century was the site of a castle protecting the town.
Pania della Croce Pania della Croce is a mountain (1,858 m) in the Alpi Apuane, in Tuscany, central Italy. It is the highest peak in the Panie Group (''Gruppo delle Panie''), located not far from the Tyrrhenian Sea coast. On very clear days Monviso, (in Pied ...
, a mountain of the
Apuan Alps The Apuan Alps ( it, Alpi Apuane) are a mountain range in northern Tuscany, Italy. They are included between the valleys of the Serchio and Magra rivers, and, to the northwest, the Garfagnana and Lunigiana, with a total length of approximate ...
, dominates the surrounding chestnut trees, grape vines and olive groves.


Culture

Barga is named, "The most Scottish town in Italy," because at the end of the 19th century a number of Italians from the town immigrated to Scotland. There were many returnees over the years and now up to 40% of present-day residents have Scottish relatives. An iconic red telephone box from the UK was gifted to the people of Barga and placed in the town centre, where it now operates as a book exchange, dubbed "the smallest library in Tuscany". There is an annual international opera festival, called "
Opera Barga Festival The Opera Barga Festival is an annual opera festival held in July in the town of Barga, Italy, founded in 1967 by Peter Hunt and Gillian Armitage together with Peter Gellhorn as musical director and Lorenzo Malfatti, head of didactics. Its perfor ...
", and a long-running and very successful jazz festival, "
Bargajazz Barga Jazz is a long-running jazz festival. The 26th edition of the festival was in 2013. It takes place in the medieval town of Barga, Tuscany, Barga, in the province of Lucca, in Tuscany, central Italy. The Jazz festival features a competition ...
". Recently, Barga has become the home of many painters, including
John Bellany John Bellany (18 June 1942 – 28 August 2013) was a Scottish painter. Early life Bellany was born in Port Seton. His father and grandfather were fishermen in Port Seton and Eyemouth near Edinburgh. During the early 1960s, he studied at ...
who exhibit their work in some of the small galleries within the castle walls. The "Sagra" is a feature of Italian rural culture; communal meals for several hundred people, eaten in the open air, often in orchards, vineyards or sports grounds. Originally religious celebrations, they are now often used to raise funds for local causes. Each town and village will have its own peculiar sagra: Around Barga from July to September, it is possible to participate in a Sagra every night. In Barga itself, there is the "Cena in Vignola" in the vineyard below the Duomo, and in August the "Sagra del pesce e Patate" (Fish and Chips festival) in celebration of the Scottish connection. At nearby San Pietro in Campo, there is the "Sagra del Maiale" (Pork), at Filecchio the "Sagra della Polenta e Ucelli" (originally small wild birds, now pheasant), at
Fornaci di Barga Fornaci di Barga, or simply Fornaci, is a ''frazione'' of Barga in the Province of Lucca, Tuscany, Italy. It is located 165 m above sea level, on the left bank of the river Serchio. The town owes its name to lime and brick kilns (''fornaci'' in ...
the "1°Maggio expo". The Italian Touring Club has recently assigned the "orange flag" of the " I Borghi più belli d'Italia" ("Best Villages of Italy"), a distinguished sign recognizing the peculiarity of its beauty and of its quality. Since 1999, Barga has also been the home of the "European Gnome Sanctuary" run by the Garden Gnome Liberation Front. The frazione of Castelvecchio Pascoli was home to one of Italy's 19th century poet
Giovanni Pascoli Giovanni Placido Agostino Pascoli (; 31 December 1855 – 6 April 1912) was an Italian poet, classical scholar and an emblematic figure of Italian literature in the late nineteenth century. Alongside Gabriele D'Annunzio, he was one of the gre ...
. In 2008, Barga became the first medieval historic centre in Italy to be mapped and equipped with QR codes (2D barcodes) for all of the churches, palazzo statues, restaurants, bars and places of interest. After a two-year trial, the project was released to the public in December 2010 under the name iBarga, allowing visitors to get up-to-date information about the city on their phones. The British writer
Len Deighton Leonard Cyril Deighton (; born 18 February 1929) is a British author. His publications have included cookery books, history and military history, but he is best known for his spy novels. After completing his national service in the Royal Air ...
wrote his novel ''
SS-GB ''SS-GB'' is an alternative history novel by Len Deighton, set in a United Kingdom conquered and occupied by Germany during the Second World War. The novel's title refers to the branch of the Nazi SS that controls Britain. It was first publi ...
'' at a rented hut on the outskirts of Barga, using a manual typewriter bought in the town. One of the novel's main characters has the family name "Barga" as a homage to the town.


Main sights

Main sights include: * '' Collegiate Church of San Cristoforo'' (the ''
duomo ''Duomo'' (, ) is an Italian term for a church with the features of, or having been built to serve as, a cathedral, whether or not it currently plays this role. Monza Cathedral, for example, has never been a diocesan seat and is by definition n ...
'' of Barga) (11th-16th centuries), the main example of
Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this lat ...
in the Serchio Valley. Of the original church, built in local limestone, parts of the façade remain. The interior has a nave and two aisles. It houses a large (3.5 m) wooden statue of St. Christopher, patron of the city. The
pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, acces ...
(12th century) was designed by Guido Bigarelli da Como, with four red marble columns resting on lion sculptures. The campanile contains three bells, the oldest of which dates to the 16th century. *''Arringo'', a large lawn between the ''Duomo'' and the Palazzo Pretorio *Loggia del
Podestà Podestà (, English: Potestate, Podesta) was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of Central and Northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a city ...
(14th century). *
San Francesco San Francesco may refer to: * San Francesco d'Assisi ( 1182–1226), Italian Catholic friar, deacon, philosopher, mystic, and preacher * San Francesco al Campo, a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont, Italy Churches in Italy ...
, church with several works by Andrea della Robbia * Santissima Annunziata church * Santissimo Crocifisso 15th-century church *Mount Tabor Ecumenical Centre for Art and Spirituality


Sport

In 1991 the local sports centre named "Il Ciocco" hosted the second edition of UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships.


Sister cities

* Hayange,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
* Gällivare,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
* Orleans, Massachusetts,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
*
Prestonpans Prestonpans ( gd, Baile an t-Sagairt, Scots language, Scots: ''The Pans'') is a small mining town, situated approximately eight miles east of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the Council area of East Lothian. The population as of is. It is near the si ...
,
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
* Cockenzie,
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
* Port Seton,
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
*
Longniddry Longniddry ( sco, Langniddry, gd, Nuadh-Treabh Fada)
...
, United Kingdom


Notable people

* Lorenzo Baldisseri, archbishop *
George Biagi George Biagi (born 4 October 1985 in Irvine, Scotland) is a retired Italy international rugby union. He represented Italy on 23 occasions. He was born in Scotland to Scots/Italian father and an Italian mother and later went to Italy to stud ...
, professional rugby player * Nadia Centoni, volleyball player *
Baccio Ciarpi Baccio Ciarpi (1574–1654) was an Italian painter of the late- Mannerism and early-Baroque style. Born in Barga in Tuscany, he was active in Rome and Florence. He is best known for having mentored briefly Pietro da Cortona. He painted a number of ...
, painter *
Gualtiero Jacopetti Gualtiero Jacopetti (4 September 1919 – 17 August 2011) was an Italian documentary film director. With Paolo Cavara and Franco Prosperi, he is considered the originator of mondo films, also called "shockumentaries". Early life Gualtiero Jac ...
, film director * Johnny Moscardini, football player * Antonio Nardini, historian *
Paolo Nutini Paolo Giovanni Nutini (born 9 January 1987) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and musician from Paisley. Nutini's debut album, '' These Streets'' (2006), peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart. Its follow-up, '' Sunny Side Up'' (2009), de ...
, singer-songwriter *
Giovanni Pascoli Giovanni Placido Agostino Pascoli (; 31 December 1855 – 6 April 1912) was an Italian poet, classical scholar and an emblematic figure of Italian literature in the late nineteenth century. Alongside Gabriele D'Annunzio, he was one of the gre ...
, poet * Paolo Riani, architect * John E. Rigali, sculptor *
Frank Viviano Frank Viviano (born Francesco Paolo Viviano in Detroit, Michigan in 1947) is a Sicilian-American journalist and foreign correspondent. He attended De La Salle High School in Detroit and the University of Michigan. His journalism career began in 1 ...
, journalist and author


References


External links


Official website

Origins of Sommocolonia-Barga
(Interview of the historian Antonio Nardini)
BBC News item on Barga "Close-up: 'The most Scottish place in Italy'Statutum Habelle Communum et Terrarum Barge
(1346) - Latin manuscript of 63 pages of statutes regarding taxes, retail sales, weights and measures {{Authority control Hilltowns in Tuscany Castles in Italy