Castelnuovo Magra ( egl, Castarnò) 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 La Spezia A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

in 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 ...

region

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

, located about southeast of

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

and about east of

La Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest city ...

. The municipality of Castelnuovo Magra 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 Italy (1922–1943), Fascist era (1922–1943) as ...

'' (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Colombiera, Molicciara, Palvotrisia, Molino Del Piano and Vallecchia. Castelnuovo Magra borders the following municipalities:

Fosdinovo Fosdinovo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Massa and Carrara in the Italian region Tuscany, located about northwest of Florence and about northwest of Massa. Fosdinovo borders the following municipalities: Aulla, Carrara, Cast ...

Ortonovo Ortonovo is a ''frazione'' (borough) in the comune of Luni in the Province of La Spezia, Liguria, north-western Italy. It is located about southeast of Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Ligur ...

Sarzana Sarzana (, ; lij, Sarzann-a) is a town, ''comune'' (municipality) and former short-lived Catholic bishopric in the Province of La Spezia, Liguria, Italy. It is east of Spezia, on the railway to Pisa, at the point where the railway to Parma diver ...

. The local dialect (referred to in Italian as ''Lunigianese'' or similar names) constitutes a variety of Emilian rather than Ligurian.

History

Roman presence is testified by ruins of a ''domus agricola'' (countryside estate) from

imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texa ...

times. After the fall 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 fr ...

, it was held by the

bishops of Luni 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 ...

; the name of the borough appears for the first time in a document from 1203. The town was visited by Dante Alighieri on 6 October 1306, to end a long series of conflicts between the bishops of Luni and the Marquis Malaspina and opened a new course in local history. The church of Santa Maria Maddalena in the town contains a

Pieter Brueghel the Younger Pieter Brueghel (also Bruegel or Breughel) the Younger (, ; ; between 23 May and 10 October 1564 – between March and May 1638) was a Flemish painter, known for numerous copies after his father Pieter Bruegel the Elder's work as well as h ...

copy of ''The Crucifixion'', believed to be a variation of an original by

Pieter Bruegel the Elder Pieter Bruegel (also Brueghel or Breughel) the Elder (, ; ; – 9 September 1569) was the most significant artist of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, a painter and printmaker, known for his landscapes and peasant scenes (so-called genr ...

. The artwork was believed stolen in a raid on 13 March 2019, but it was revealed that Italian police, tipped off about the possibility of the planned theft, had replaced the painting with a copy in a

sting operation In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person attempting to commit a crime. A typical sting will have an undercover law enforcement officer, detective, or co-operative member of the public play a role a ...

References

External links

Official website
Cities and towns in Liguria {{Liguria-geo-stub