Castiglione di Garfagnana is a medieval walled 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 1,878 inhabitants in 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 pro ...

. It sits on a hillside above the river Esarulo, a tributary of the

Serchio 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 ...

. The town is renowned for the band Filarmonica Alpina, founded in 1858 with the name of ''Fanfara popolare''.

History

The origin of the town dates back to a Roman ''castra'', called ''Castrum Leonis'', ("Lion's Castle"), built to command the valley that leads to the San Pellegrino Pass, the easiest access for armies over the

Apennines The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...

. The fortress later developed under the Lombard and

Frank Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...

dominations. In 1170 it was besieged by the Republic of

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 o ...

. Castiglione surrendered, but the high taxes imposed led the city to form a league with other communes of

Garfagnana The Garfagnana () is a historical and geographical region of central Italy, today part of the province of Lucca, in Tuscany. It is the upper valley or basin of the river Serchio, and thus lies between the main ridge of the Northern Apennines t ...

against Lucca. In 1227 Castiglione was again besieged and suffered further destruction by Lucchese soldiers. Political conflicts continued in the following years, until a peace was reached in 1371: Lucca gained definitive control of Castiglione, and established a permanent administrator. The defensive structure was upgraded with the widening of the town walls. During the 15th century Castiglione was one of the few communities in

that did not submit to the Este family, instead remaining loyal to the Republic of Lucca. Throughout the wars against the Estensi, the fortress was again besieged, in particular in 1603 and 1613. There then followed a long period of peace, marred only by boundary disputes with the neighbouring communes. The

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

(1815) assigned Castiglione to Marie Louise of Bourbon, Grand Duchess of Lucca, who in 1819 gave it to Francis IV of Modena.

Main sights

Castiglione's most striking attraction is the Medieval bridge built by Spinetta Malaspina in the 13th century. The town is also famous for its well-preserved 13th-century medieval walls with large towers (the ''Torrioni'') and the castle (''Rocca''). The church of ''San Pietro'' was erected in 723 by two Lombard brothers, Aurinand and Gudifrid, but was largely rebuilt in the 12th century by Bishop Guido III of Lucca. ''San Michele'' (14th century) is the other main holy building of the town. Both churches use wall towers as their belfries. The Church of ''San Pellegrino'' (in the ''frazione of the same name''), at and commanding the valley of the

river, houses the mortal remains of St. Pellegrino and St. Bianco. The town has a panoramic vista over the valley below.

Sister cities

* Isola, France, since 2010

References

External links

*
Garfagnana landscape
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castiglione Di Garfagnana Hilltowns in Tuscany