| Varzi | ||
 | ||
| State | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Region | Lombardy | |
| Territory | Oltrepò Pavese | |
| Altitude | 416 m a.s.l. | |
| Surface | 58.77 km² | |
| Inhabitants | 3.405 (2011 census) | |
| Name inhabitants | Varzesi | |
| Prefix tel | 39 0383 | |
| POSTAL CODE | 27057 | |
| Time zone | UTC 1 | |
| Patron | San Giorgio (April 23) | |
Position
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| Institutional website | ||
Varzi is a city ofOltrepò Pavese in Lombardy.
To know
In Staffora Valley, Varzi is the main center of the upper valley, which continues up to pass of the Penice, from which you can go down to Genoa and the Ligurian Sea or towards Bobbio and the Trebbia valley that leads to the Po. It is known as a holiday center and above all as a place where its famous homonymous salami is produced.
Geographical notes
In a verdant valley of the Val Staffora of which it is the mountain capital, Varzi is 30 km from the capital of the valley andOltrepò Pavese, Voghera; 54 km from Pavia; 62 km from Piacenza.
Background
His parish was dependent on the Monastery of Bobbio, and was for a long time the principal church of the mountain villages of the Staffora Valley. The Malaspina, a powerful feudal family who dominated not only in the Staffora area, but also in the nearby valleys, moved in 1275 from the castle of Nowamala in Varzi and began to fortify it, building a castle, walls, two gates. They thus made it a resting and refreshment point for pilgrims and merchants, but also a place of control and collection of duty taxes for the lords of the valley. The intensity of the merchant caravans that traveled through this ancient one via del sale made the small city prosperous, which over time came to count three circles of walls.
The development of the center led to the drafting of the Statutes; was Marquisate of the Malaspina until their progressive disappearance, determined by infighting within the family, splits into different branches (the Deadwood, lo Spino Fiorito etc.) up to an external cause: the Napoleonic suppression of the fiefdoms in 1797.
How to orient yourself
Varzi: full screen map.Neighborhoods
They are inhabited centers of its territory: Bognassi, Bosmenso, Braia di Cella, Caposelva, Casa Bertella, Casa Cabano, Casa Fiori, Castellaro, Cella, Dego, Fontana di Nivione, Monteforte, Nivione, Pietragavina, Rosara, Sagliano Crenna, San Martino, San Michele di Nivione, Santa Cristina.
How to get
By plane
- 1 Bergamo-Orio al Serio Airport (the Caravaggio), Via Aeroporto 13, Orio al Serio, ☎ 39 035 326323.
- 2 Milan-Malpensa Airport (MXP), Ferno. The airport has two terminals (T1 and T2), the second is used for low cost flights. The bus service Motorway connects the airport with Milan central station in about 50 minutes, while the Malpensa Express it connects Terminal 1 with Cadorna station (red and green line underground) in 40 minutes. The buses of the Sadem is Motorway reach the city of Turin (2 hours), while the company Foxes make a few trips for Genoa (3 hours).
- 3 Milan-Linate airport, Viale Enrico Forlanini, ☎ 39 02 232323.
- 4 Brescia Airport (D'Annunzio), Via Aeroporto 34, Montichiari (Connections with Brescia airport are guaranteed by public transport via the bus. The stop a Brescia city is located at the bus station (number 23), while that of the airport is at the front of the terminal. There are also connections to the city of Verona via bus / shuttle line 1), ☎ 39 045 8095666, @[email protected].
By car
- State road 461 which from Voghera leads to Pass of the Penice it's at Bobbio
On the train
How to get around
What see
- 1 Medieval quarter. It is the historic center of the town that develops parallel to the Staffora stream, extending on the relief that runs along it. It consists of arcaded streets with sturdy stone pillars. The main street runs from Porta Soprana to Porta Sottana at the two ends of the walls, both surmounted by a tower; at the gates the payment of the duty was demanded. In the small main square, little more than an open space between the ancient buildings, the castle - Malaspina palace, the remains of which are now a private residence; its tower still dominates the town. There Rossi's Church it was built in 1636 and the almost twin Church of the Whites in 1646; their denomination does not refer to families, but to the color of the cloaks worn by the members of the religious brotherhoods that worked there. There parish church of San Germano it is higher than the street of the square, and it too has no spaces around it that could enhance its powerful structure. It was built by the Malaspina family in 1584, in all probability to provide the village with a more comfortable church than that of the Capuchins, located outside the walls. The alley behind the walls it is a beautiful raised walkway with arcades located above the ancient city walls.
- 2 Capuchin Church, via San Francesco. Its construction in Romanesque style dates back to the turn of 1100-1200. At the beginning of the fourteenth century it was equipped with a brick facade above and local stone below, with a splayed portal; the fresco in the lunette is from the Baroque period. The Capuchin friars were called there in 1623; the construction of the convent on the side of the church began, with a vault under the trusses and rectangular windows in place of the previous splayed single lancet windows.
- The Napoleonic suppression of 1802 led to the sale of both the church and the convent to private individuals. The Capuchins redeemed it in 1903 and rededicated it to worship; however, they could not remedy the architectural disfigurements it had suffered.
- In 1971 the Romanesque structure of the interior was restored, demolishing the seventeenth-century vault, bringing to light the exposed trusses of the primitive construction. In this way, part of a large fresco from the end of the fifteenth century was also rediscovered which affected the whole area of the altar; remains a figure of the Virgin. Remains of the ancient semicircular apse have also emerged. The baroque altar is in inlaid wood; a large altarpiece represents the Madonna della Neve with San Francesco and San Lorenzo da Brindisi. A late 16th century canvas in the left aisle is the work of Guglielmo Caccia called the Moncalvo; in the right aisle there is a Madonna with Saint Felix of Cantalice, probably the work of one of Moncalvo's daughters.
Events and parties
- Varzese Carnival, square of the Fair (at Carnival). Traditional parade of masked floats on the occasion of the Carnival.
- St. George's Fair, square of the Fair (in April).
9.00-22.00. Patronal feast on Saturday and Sunday following the feast of San Giorgio on 23 April. There are local craft and commerce stalls. - Varzi at the Fair, square of the Fair (on May 1st). Fair of the ancient village with music, typical products and animals at the fair.
- Antiques Fair, square of the Fair (Every Sunday in September). 8.30-18.00. Traditional appointment with the stalls of old things.
- City of salami, in the historic center (in June). Shows, tastings and awards of the author's salami.
- Chestnut Festival (in Pietragavina in October). Annual event with the presence of stands with local gastronomic products, traditional music and tastings of roasted chestnuts.
- Christmas market, in the Borgo Antico (the third Sunday of December). 10.00-18.00. Traditional stalls with typical handicrafts and Christmas items, the nativity scene, bagpipers and Santa Claus.
9.00-22.00. Patronal feast on Saturday and Sunday following the feast of San Giorgio on 23 April. There are local craft and commerce stalls.What to do
The town offers the opportunity to take beautiful walks in its wide valley along the Staffora, enjoying a pleasant air quality, the green of its woods, the wide panorama of the mountains all around.
Shopping
Certainly born from the need to preserve meat by seasoning and salting, treated since ancient times, the Varzi salami over time it has achieved a notable reputation and an undeniable level of quality, so much so that it has become a DOP product, that is, a Protected Designation of Origin.
How to have fun
Where to eat
Moderate prices
- Albera Restaurant Pizzeria, piazza Fiera 9, ☎ 39 0383 52921.
- Antica Varzi restaurant, locality Ranzi, 3 (Bridge of Sighs) (in Ranzi), ☎ 39 0383 52001.
- Turin Coffee Restaurant, via P. Mazza, 153, ☎ 39 0383 52215.
- Coffee restaurant in the center, via Di Dentro, 9, ☎ 39 0383 52692.
- Ginestrella restaurant, cell fraction n. 32 (in the hamlet of Cella), ☎ 39 0383 52150.
- La Rotonda Restaurant, Pietragavina district, 66 (in Pietragavina), ☎ 39 0383 576048.
- Officina dei Sapori restaurant, Alley to the Stàffora, ☎ 39 0383 545057.
- Trattoria Rosara, Rosara locality (in Rosara), ☎ 39 0383 52223.
- Sotto i Portici Restaurant, via del Mercato, 10, ☎ 39 0383 52990, 39 3470400563 (Mobile phone), 39 3406451059 (Mobile phone).
Where stay
- Post hotel restaurant, Pietragavina district, 1 (in Pietragavina), ☎ 39 0383 576045.
- Corona Hotel Restaurant, Piazza della Fiera 19, ☎ 39 0383 545345.
- Bosi hotel, via Papa Giovanni XXIII n. 4, ☎ 39 0525 999251.
- La Sorgente farmhouse, via Generale Maretti, 6, ☎ 39 0383 53295.
- Primula Bianca Hotel Restaurant, Castellaro district, 30 (in Castellaro), ☎ 39 0383 52160.
Safety
How to keep in touch
Post office
- Italian post - piazza Umberto I, 9 - Telephone 39 0383 52045, Fax 39 0383 545270
Around
- Voghera - Main center not only of the Val Staffora, but the capital of allOltrepò Pavese, the city remembers with its elegant urban layout, from the sober Piedmontese architecture, its long Savoy belonging
- Bobbio - The Abbey of San Colombano made it a place of culture but also of power. Its monumental center handed down to us the importance it held over the centuries as an important commercial and political - administrative seat of the vast so-called area of the four provinces.
- Pass of the Penice - On the border between Emilia is Lombardy, not far from Piedmont is Liguria, was an important point of communication and commerce. It is now mainly known as a place for winter sports but also for summer holidays.
- Hermitage of Butrio
- Zavattarello - Among the most beautiful villages in Italy, Zavatterello is a medieval village in theOltrepò Pavese famous for the Dal Verme Castle where, according to a legend, the ghost of Pietro Dal Verme roams.
