Bobbio

Encyclopedia : B : BO : BOB : Bobbio

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Bobbio is a small town and commune in the province of Piacenza in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. It is located in the Trebbia River valley southwest of the town Piacenza. There is also an abbey and a diocese of the same name.

Known to the ancients as Bobium or Ebovium, the Irish Saint Columbanus (It. Colombano) established a monastery sometime between 612 and 614. Bobbio Abbey (see main article) became a center of learning during the Middle Ages, and was renowned for its library, but its decline in the 15th century led to the dispersal of the library. The monastery was officially suppressed by the French in 1803.

This monastery is in part the model for the great monastery in Umberto Eco's novel The Name of the Rose. The bishopric dates from 1014.

The town became part of Savoy in 1748. On July 7, 1944, the partisan resistance in Italy conquered the town and self-governed it until it was crushed by the Germans on August 27, the same year.

Main sights

The 280 metre long Ponte Vecchio (pictured), which spans the Trebbia by means of eleven unequal arches, is known to have existed before 1196 and may be of Roman origin. From its curious shape it is commonly called the ‘Hunchback Bridge’; also the ‘Devil’s Bridge’ after a legend in which Saint Columbanus tricks Satan into rebuilding it over-night after it has been destroyed by a flood. In reality the bridge did need to be reconstructed after flood damage in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

The Malaspina Castle, begun by Corradino Malaspina in 1304, affords a good view over the town and the surrounding countryside.

Two museums are located within the abbey complex, one devoted to the abbey and one to the town. Among the exhibits is a much admired carved ivory ‘bucket’ of the fourth century CE.

Twin cities

• - Ybbs an der Donau, Austria
• - Navan, Ireland

External links

• [Bobbio homepage (in Italian)]
• [A brief History (in Italian)] from the site of the Comunità Montana Appennino Piacentino
• [Catholic Encyclopedia article on Bobbio]

 

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