Chiavenna ( lmo, Ciavèna ; la, Clavenna; rm, Clavenna or ''Claven''; archaic german: Cläven or ''Kleven'') is a ''
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 ...
'' (municipality) in the
Province of Sondrio in the northern Italian region of
Lombardy.
It is the centre of the Alpine
Valchiavenna
The Valchiavenna is an alpine valley in the province of Sondrio, in Lombardy in northern Italy. It lies to the north of Lake Como, and is traversed by the rivers Mera and Liro. It can be divided into three parts which branch from the confl ...
region. The historic town is a member of the
Cittaslow
Cittaslow is an organisation founded in Italy and inspired by the slow food movement. Cittaslow's goals include improving the quality of life in towns by slowing down its overall pace, especially in a city's use of spaces and the flow of life a ...
movement.
Geography
Chiavenna is located about north of
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
and about northwest of
Sondrio. The town is situated on the right bank of the river
Mera[ about north of Lake Como. The river course leads up to ]Val Bregaglia
The Val Bregaglia ( lmo, Val Bregaja; german: Bergell, ; rm, ) is an alpine valley of Switzerland and Italy at the base of which runs the river Mera ( lmo, Maira in Switzerland).
Most of the valley falls within the Swiss district of Maloja ...
in the east and the Swiss border at Castasegna
Castasegna () is a former municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Grisons, on the Italian border. It is currently part of the municipality of Bregaglia. The town is situated in the Bergell valley, above the river Mera.
...
. In the north, the Valle Spluga
The Valle Spluga, also known as the Val San Giacomo and as the Val dei Giüst, is an Alpine valley in the north Italian Province of Sondrio (Lombardy), which extends from the Splügen Pass, on the border with Switzerland, south to Chiavenna
Chi ...
stretches up to Passo dello Spluga and the road to Chur
, neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Churwalden, Tschiertschen-Praden, Domat/Ems, Felsberg, Malix, Trimmis, Untervaz, Pfäfers
, twintowns = Bad Homburg (Germany), Cabourg (France), Mayrhofen (Austria), Mondorf-les-Bains (Luxe ...
in the Grisons.
Chiavenna borders the following municipalities: Mese, Piuro
Piuro (''Piür'' in the local dialect) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan and about northwest of Sondrio, on the border with Switzerland. As of 31 December 20 ...
, Prata Camportaccio
Prata Camportaccio is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan and about northwest of Sondrio. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,758 and an area of .All ...
, and San Giacomo Filippo
San Giacomo Filippo ( Alpine Lombard: ''San Giacum'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan and about northwest of Sondrio, on the border with Switzerland. As of ...
.
The municipality of Chiavenna contains the ''frazioni
A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...
'' (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Campedello, Loreto, Pianazzola, and San Carlo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 7,263 and an area of .[All demographics and other statistics: Italian statistical institute ]Istat
The Italian National Institute of Statistics ( it, Istituto nazionale di statistica; Istat) is the main producer of official statistics in Italy. Its activities include the census of population, economic censuses and a number of social, economic ...
.
History
Antiquity
The name of Chiavenna, believed to derive by paretymology from ''clavis'' ( en, key) referring to its pivotal position on the mountain passes between Northern Italy and the Posterior Rhine
The Hinterrhein (German; Italian: ''Reno Posteriore''; Sutsilvan: ''Ragn Posteriur''; Sursilvan: ''Rein Posteriur''; Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader, and Puter: ''Rain Posteriur''; Surmiran: ''Ragn posteriour''; en, Posterior Rhine) is one of the ...
valley, comes in reality from a much older, pre-Latin (probably ligurian and certainly non-Celtic) etymon ''klava'', meaning fallen rocks of a mountain slip. In Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
times ''Clavenna'', conquered in 16 BC by the troops of Emperor Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
during his Alpine campaigns, temporarily was a town of the ''Raetia et Vindelicia
Raetia ( ; ; also spelled Rhaetia) was a province of the Roman Empire, named after the Rhaetian people. It bordered on the west with the country of the Helvetii, on the east with Noricum, on the north with Vindelicia, on the south-west with T ...
'' province, though actually located on the Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
( Cisalpine Gaul) side of the Alpine crest, north of the head of the ''Lacus Larius'' (modern Lake Como) at the entrance of the Valle Spluga
The Valle Spluga, also known as the Val San Giacomo and as the Val dei Giüst, is an Alpine valley in the north Italian Province of Sondrio (Lombardy), which extends from the Splügen Pass, on the border with Switzerland, south to Chiavenna
Chi ...
.
The Romans had two important roads
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
built from ''Clavenna'': the itineraries demonstrate that the route up the Valle Spluga to Splügen Pass
The Splügen Pass (german: Splügenpass; it, Passo dello Spluga; rm, Pass dal Spleia ) is an Alpine mountain pass of the Lepontine Alps. It connects the Swiss, Grisonian Splügen to the north below the pass with the Italian Chiavenna to the ...
was frequented in ancient times; as well as another, which separated from it at Clavenna, and led by a more circuitous route up the Val Bregaglia
The Val Bregaglia ( lmo, Val Bregaja; german: Bergell, ; rm, ) is an alpine valley of Switzerland and Italy at the base of which runs the river Mera ( lmo, Maira in Switzerland).
Most of the valley falls within the Swiss district of Maloja ...
(Val Chiavenna) and across Septimer Pass
Septimer Pass (German: ''Septimerpass'', Italian: ''Passo del Settimo'', Romansh: ''Pass da Sett''; elevation ) is a high mountain pass in the canton of Graubünden in the Swiss Alps between the valleys of Bregaglia (Bergell) and Surses (Ober ...
to ''Curia'' (modern Chur
, neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Churwalden, Tschiertschen-Praden, Domat/Ems, Felsberg, Malix, Trimmis, Untervaz, Pfäfers
, twintowns = Bad Homburg (Germany), Cabourg (France), Mayrhofen (Austria), Mondorf-les-Bains (Luxe ...
), where it rejoined the preceding road. (Itin. Ant. pp. 277, 278; Tab. Peut.; P. Diac. vi. 29.) These passes had already played an important role as a line of supply for the Roman legion
The Roman legion ( la, legiō, ) was the largest military unit of the Roman army, composed of 5,200 infantry and 300 equites (cavalry) in the period of the Roman Republic (509 BC–27 BC) and of 5,600 infantry and 200 auxilia in the period o ...
. It was by one or other of the roads that ''Magister militium'' Stilicho
Flavius Stilicho (; c. 359 – 22 August 408) was a military commander in the Roman army who, for a time, became the most powerful man in the Western Roman Empire. He was of Vandal origins and married to Serena, the niece of emperor Theodosiu ...
crossed the Alps in midwinter, a feat celebrated by Claudian (''de B. Get.'' 320–358).
Middle Ages
After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period ...
the city marked the northern limit of the Ostrogothic Kingdom
The Ostrogothic Kingdom, officially the Kingdom of Italy (), existed under the control of the Germanic Ostrogoths in Italy and neighbouring areas from 493 to 553.
In Italy, the Ostrogoths led by Theodoric the Great killed and replaced Odoacer, ...
in Italy. ''Clavenna'' belonged to the Italian territories retaken by the Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
in the mid-6th century during the reign of Emperor Justinian the Great
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized '' renova ...
and avoided capture by the Lombard kingdom
The Kingdom of the Lombards ( la, Regnum Langobardorum; it, Regno dei Longobardi; lmo, Regn di Lombard) also known as the Lombard Kingdom; later the Kingdom of (all) Italy ( la, Regnum totius Italiae), was an early medieval state established ...
until the 7th century. Clavenna probably derived some importance from its position at the junction of the two pass roads, as does the modern town of Chiavenna, which is the chief town of the surrounding district.
When the East Frankish
East Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the East Franks () was a successor state of Charlemagne's empire ruled by the Carolingian dynasty until 911. It was created through the Treaty of Verdun (843) which divided the former empire int ...
king Otto I
Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the oldest son of He ...
married the dowager queen Adelaide of Italy
Adelaide of Italy (german: Adelheid; 931 – 16 December 999 AD), also called Adelaide of Burgundy, was Holy Roman Empress by marriage to Emperor Otto the Great; she was crowned with him by Pope John XII in Rome on 2 February 962. She was the ...
in October 951 and campaigned against King Berengar II, he assigned the Val Bregaglia and the control over Septimer Pass to the Bishopric of Chur
The Prince-Bishopric of Chur (german: Hochstift Chur, Fürstbistum Chur, Bistum Chur) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire, and had Imperial immediacy. The Prince-Bishopric of Chur controlled contiguous land from the city of ...
, while the Bishops of Como
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
held the adjacent estates from Villa
A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...
down to Chiavenna in the southwest (corresponding to the current Italian-Swiss border). In 961 King Otto himself took the Septimer road to traverse the Alps on his way to Rome to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor the following year. The citizens of Chiavenna received town privileges
Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...
from the Como bishops in 1030.
Chiavenna is crowned by a ruined castle, once an important strategic point, and the seat of the counts who ruled the valley from the time of the Goths till 1194, when the district was handed over to the Bishops of Chur.[ In medieval times, the ''castello'' served as a residence of local counts controlling the Alpine passes in the north and east. The ]Hohenstaufen
The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...
emperor Frederick Barbarossa first crossed Septimer Pass on his Italian campaign of 1163/64. It was in Chiavenna, where in 1176 he met with his Welf Welf is a Germanic first name that may refer to:
*Welf (father of Judith), 9th century Frankish count, father-in-law of Louis the Pious
*Welf I, d. bef. 876, count of Alpgau and Linzgau
*Welf II, Count of Swabia, died 1030, supposed descendant of W ...
cousin, the Saxon duke Henry the Lion
Henry the Lion (german: Heinrich der Löwe; 1129/1131 – 6 August 1195) was a member of the Welf dynasty who ruled as the duke of Saxony and Bavaria from 1142 and 1156, respectively, until 1180.
Henry was one of the most powerful German p ...
. He allegedly fell on his knees to implore Henry's aid against the cities of the Lombard League, however, the duke refused. Two years later, the forces of the Chur bishops advanced across the Alpine crest into the Val Bregaglia and by 1194, Chiavenna was incorporated into the Upper Raetian territories of the Duchy of Swabia.
With the adjacent Valtellina
Valtellina or the Valtelline (occasionally spelled as two words in English: Val Telline; rm, Vuclina (); lmo, Valtelina or ; german: Veltlin; it, Valtellina) is a valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland. Toda ...
(Veltlin) valley in the southeast, the town was acquired by the Visconti lords of Milan in 1335 from the Chur bishops.
Modern age
During the time of the transalpine campaigns of the Old Swiss Confederacy
The transalpine campaigns of the Old Swiss Confederacy (, "transmontane campaigns", as they are known in Swiss historiography) were military expeditions which resulted in the conquest of territories south of the Alps, corresponding more or les ...
from the early 15th century onwards, Chiavenna was controlled by the Three Leagues
The Three Leagues, sometimes referred to as Raetia, was the alliance of 1471 of the League of God's House, the League of the Ten Jurisdictions, and the Grey League, leading eventually to the formation of the Swiss canton of Graubünden (Grison ...
' forces, fighting against the Sforza
The House of Sforza () was a ruling family of Renaissance Italy, based in Milan. They acquired the Duchy of Milan following the extinction of the Visconti family in the mid-15th century, Sforza rule ending in Milan with the death of the last me ...
who had succeeded the Visconti as Dukes of Milan
The following is a list of rulers of Milan from the 13th century to 1814, after which it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia by the Congress of Vienna.
Before elevation to duchy
Until 1259, Milan was a free commune that elec ...
. In 1486 they set Chiavenna ablaze; two years later, Ludovico Sforza had the town fortified. Nevertheless, Chiavenna was conquered by the Leagues's forces during the War of the League of Cambrai
The War of the League of Cambrai, sometimes known as the War of the Holy League and several other names, was fought from February 1508 to December 1516 as part of the Italian Wars of 1494–1559. The main participants of the war, who fough ...
, when they allied with the Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy or Swiss Confederacy ( Modern German: ; historically , after the Reformation also , "Confederation of the Swiss") was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or In the charters of the 14th century ...
defeating the French troops of King Louis XII
Louis XII (27 June 14621 January 1515), was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Maria of Cleves, he succeeded his 2nd cousin once removed and brother in law at the tim ...
at the 1513 Battle of Novara. Together with the Valtellina and Bormio
Bormio ( lmo, Bormi, rm, italic=yes, , german: Worms im Veltlintal) is a town and ''comune'' with a population of about 4,100 located in the Province of Sondrio, Lombardy region of the Alps in northern Italy.
The centre of the upper Valtellina ...
(Worms), the Chiavenna estates became bailiwicks governed by the Three Leagues. A first Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
parish arose in 1542; thereafter, Chiavenna became a centre of the Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
while numerous religious refugees from the Italian lands settled here, among them notable theologians like Camillo Renato Paolo Ricci (c. 1500, in Palermo – c. 1575, in Caspano, Civo) was a Franciscan, then a Lutheran, possibly an Anabaptist, and only allegedly an Antitrinitarian. He also adopted academic pseudonyms: Lisia Fileno (Latin: Lysias Paulus Riccius Ph ...
, Bernardino Ochino
Bernardino Ochino (1487–1564) was an Italian, who was raised a Roman Catholic and later turned to Protestantism and became a Protestant reformer.
Biography
Bernardino Ochino was born in Siena, the son of the barber Domenico Ochino, and at the ...
, and Girolamo Zanchi
Girolamo Zanchi (Latin "Hieronymus Zanchius," thus Anglicized to "Jerome Zanchi/Zanchius"; February 2, 1516 – November 19, 1590) was an Italian Protestant Reformation clergyman and educator who influenced the development of Reformed theology dur ...
.
Temporarily lost during the ''Bündner Wirren
The Bündner Wirren ( rm, Scumbigls grischuns/Scumpigls grischuns/Sgurdins grischuns, french: Troubles des Grisons, it, Torbidi grigionesi, English: ''Graubünden disturbances'' or ''Revolt of the Leagues'') was a conflict that lasted between 161 ...
'' in 1620–39 during the Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...
, the Three Leagues' rule over Chiavenna actually lasted until 1797, when the French revolutionaries merged it into the Cisalpine Republic
The Cisalpine Republic ( it, Repubblica Cisalpina) was a sister republic of France in Northern Italy that existed from 1797 to 1799, with a second version until 1802.
Creation
After the Battle of Lodi in May 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte organiz ...
which was rapidly promoted to the ''Regno d'Italia'' with Eugène de Beauharnais
Eugène Rose de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg (; 3 September 1781 – 21 February 1824) was a French nobleman, statesman, and military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.
Through the second marr ...
as Viceré (the King being Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
himself). Hence, together with neighbouring Bormio and Valtellina valleys, it did not form part of the Swiss Confederacy, as the Free State of the Three Leagues (modern Canton of Grisons
The Grisons () or Graubünden,Names include:
*german: (Kanton) Graubünden ;
* Romansh:
** rm, label=Sursilvan, (Cantun) Grischun
** rm, label= Vallader, (Chantun) Grischun
** rm, label= Puter, (Chantun) Grischun
** rm, label= Surmiran, (Can ...
, german: Graubünden) was not part of Switzerland until Napoleon's much later conquest. To this day, there is a statue of the Anglo-Swiss count Peter de Salis (1738–1807) in Chiavenna, from the time when he was governor of the Valtellina.
After the fall of Napoleon, from 1815 to 1859 Chiavenna and the whole of Lombardy and Veneto went to the House of Habsburg, who always wanted control of the pass from Austria to Milan to link the Habsburg families. During the favourable time of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia
The Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia ( la, links=no, Regnum Langobardiae et Venetiae), commonly called the "Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom" ( it, links=no, Regno Lombardo-Veneto, german: links=no, Königreich Lombardo-Venetien), was a constituent land ...
, primary schools were created in every place, and the instruction was made obligatory for maids. Lombard and Venetic women where the first to be alphabetised in Italy, long before the women of other Italian provinces. The Austrian administration build bold modern routes (Spluga, Stelvio), created hospitals and brought the level of medicine in Milan up to the top for the time. A citizen of Chiavenna could study in the universities of Innsbruck, Vienna, Prague, Budapest. He could serve in the imperial army, become an officer, accede to the higher administration, and be ennobled. After the proclamation of the Sabaudian Regno d'Italia, Chiavenna followed the sort of the rest of Lombardy.
On 6 June 2000, a Catholic sister, Maria Laura Mainetti
Maria Laura Mainetti (born Teresina Elsa Mainetti; 20 August 1939 – 6 June 2000) was an Italian Catholic sister from the Sisters of the Cross institute. Mother superior of a convent in Chiavenna that specialised in helping juvenile delinque ...
, was murdered in a satanic sacrifice by three teenage girls.
People
* Peter, (3rd) Count de Salis (1738–1807). A popular governor, 1771–1773 and 1781–1783.
*Ima Agustoni (1935-2017), actress and writer of Italian educational materials, most famous for presenting Avanti! Avanti!.
References
Sources
*
External links
Official website
*
{{authority control
Roman towns and cities in Italy
History of Graubünden
Val Bregaglia
Valle Spluga