Pontecurone (

Piedmontese Piedmontese (; autonym: or , in it, piemontese) is a language spoken by some 2,000,000 people mostly in Piedmont, northwestern region of Italy. Although considered by most linguists a separate language, in Italy it is often mistakenly regard ...

: ''Poncròu'') 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 Alessandria The Province of Alessandria ( it, Provincia di Alessandria; pms, Provincia ëd Lissandria; in Piedmontese of Alessandria: ''Provinsa ëd Lissändria'') is an Italian province, with a population of some 425,000, which forms the southeastern part o ...

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

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, located on the left bank of the

Curone The Curone (in Piedmontese and in Lombard ''Cròu'') is a torrent which flows for some 50 km) through the Italian regions Lombardy and Piedmont. It is a right tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a lar ...

, about east of

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

and about east of

Alessandria Alessandria (; pms, Lissandria ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, about east of Turin. Alessandria ...

. Pontecurone borders the following municipalities:

Casalnoceto Casalnoceto is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about east of Turin and about east of Alessandria. Casalnoceto borders the following municipalities: Castellar Guidobono, Godiasco, ...

Casei Gerola Casei Gerola is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. It is located about southwest of Milan and about southwest of Pavia. Casei Gerola borders the following municipalities: Castelnuovo Scrivia, Cornale e Bast ...

Castelnuovo Scrivia Castelnuovo Scrivia is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about east of Turin and about northeast of Alessandria. History The city was fortified around 500 CE by order of Theoderic ...

Rivanazzano Terme Rivanazzano Terme ( Lombard: ''La Riva''; known simply as ''Rivanazzano'' before 30 July 2009The name was officially changed by regional law 14.07.2009 no, 12, which followed a referendum held in Rivanazzano on 29 March 2009; the name of Rivanazzan ...

Tortona Tortona (; pms, Torton-a , ; lat, Dhertona) is a ''comune'' of Piemonte, in the Province of Alessandria, Italy. Tortona is sited on the right bank of the Scrivia between the plain of Marengo and the foothills of the Ligurian Apennines. History ...

Viguzzolo Viguzzolo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italy, Italian region Piedmont, located about east of Turin and about east of Alessandria. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,964 and an area of .All dem ...

, and

Voghera The Castle of Voghera in a 19th-century etching. Voghera ( Vogherese dialect of Emilian: ''Vughera''; Latin: ''Forum Iulii Iriensium'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy. The population was 39,374 ...

. In 1635 it was the site of a battle in which

Odoardo Farnese Odoardo Farnese (28 April 1612 – 11 September 1646), also known as Odoardo I Farnese to distinguish him from his grandson Odoardo II Farnese, was Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro from 1622 to 1646. Biography Odoardo was the eldest legit ...

duke of Parma and Piacenza The Duke of Parma and Piacenza () was the ruler of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, a List of historic states of Italy, historical state of Northern Italy, which existed between 1545 and 1802, and again from 1814 to 1859. The Duke of Parma w ...

and allied to the French, defeated the Spanish troops under Caspar Azevedo.

History

The first inhabited nucleus of Pontecurone can already be dated back to the Augustan period - with the flourishing of the

Via Postumia The Via Postumia was an ancient Roman road of northern Italy constructed in 148 BC by the ''consul'' Spurius Postumius Albinus Magnus. It ran from the coast at Genua through the mountains to Dertona, Placentia (the termination of the Via Aemil ...

(which connected

Piacenza Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...

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 ...

via Voghera, Tortona and

Libarna Libarna was a Roman city located on the left bank of the Scrivia, on the stretch of the via Postumia between Genua and Dertona. Today Libarna's hamlet is part of the municipality of Serravalle Scrivia, in Alessandria province. Libarna's excava ...

) in the vicinity of the very important ford on the Curone - thanks to the discovery of numerous coins from that period in the territory. It appears since the Lombard age among the possessions of the abbey of San Colombano di Bobbio with the toponym ''Ponte Coroni''. A few years before the year 1000 (in 962),

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 Francia, East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the olde ...

donated some properties to the

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capit ...

monastery of

San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro ( Italian for "Saint Peter in Golden Sky") is a Catholic basilica (and a former cathedral) of the Augustinians in Pavia, Italy, in the Lombardy region. Its name refers to the mosaics of gold leaf behind glass tesserae tha ...

, among which also the locality of ''Ponte Coironum'': this is the first written evidence of the existence of Pontecurone. In the Vatican Gallery of Maps (late 16th century), Pontecurone is referred to as ''Pons Coronis''. In 1635, the army of

Odoardo I Farnese Odoardo Farnese (28 April 1612 – 11 September 1646), also known as Odoardo I Farnese to distinguish him from his grandson Odoardo II Farnese, was Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro from 1622 to 1646. Biography Odoardo was the eldest legit ...

Duke of Parma and Piacenza The Duke of Parma and Piacenza () was the ruler of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, a List of historic states of Italy, historical state of Northern Italy, which existed between 1545 and 1802, and again from 1814 to 1859. The Duke of Parma w ...

, allied with the French, defeated the

Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance peoples, Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of National and regional identity in Spain, national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex Hist ...

under the command of Don Gaspare Azevedo, who perished in the battle. In more recent times, the railway bridge over the Curone was bombed several times by the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

during

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In fact, the stretch of railway passing through Pontecurone is of great strategic importance as the Alessandria-Piacenza and Milan-Genoa lines run through it.

Main sights

* Birthplace of Don

Luigi Orione Luigi Giovanni Orione was an Italian priest who was active in answering the social needs of his nation as it faced the social upheavals of the late 19th century. To this end, he founded a religious institute of men. He has been declared a saint ...

* Villa Signorini, current seat of the Municipality * Civic tower * Church of Santa Maria Assunta, mentioned as early as the 12th century but already pre-existing * Church of San Giovanni Battista * Oratory of San Francesco

Transport

Pontecurone is crossed in a westerly-easterly direction by the SS 10 Padana Inferiore road, which links

Monselice Monselice (; vec, Monséłexe ) is a town and municipality (comune) located in northeastern Italy, in the Veneto region, in the province of Padua about southwest of the city of Padua, at the southern edge of the Euganean Hills (''Colli Euganei' ...

. The SP 93 Pontecurone-Castelnuovo Scrivia, the SP 96 Pontecurone-Rivanazzano, the SP 97 Pontecurone-Volpedo and the SP 98 Pontecurone-Viguzzolo also branch off from the town. Pontecurone has a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

along the Alessandria-Piacenza and Milan-Genoa lines.

People

* Giuseppe Arezzi (1917-) * Saint

(1872–1940)

References

External links

Official website
Cities and towns in Piedmont {{Alessandria-geo-stub