Retignano
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Retignano | |
|---|---|
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| Country | Italy |
| Region | Tuscany |
| Province | Lucca (LU) |
| Comune | Stazzema |
| Elevation | 430 m (1,410 ft) |
| Population (2014) | |
| • Total | 381 |
| Demonym | [Retignanesi] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 55040 |
| Dialing code | 0584 |
| Patron saint | St. Peter |
| Saint day | June 29 |
| Website | Official website |
Retignano is a village of about 400 inhabitants, located on a hill in the historical Versilia, a northern area of the Italian region of Tuscany, in the municipality of Stazzema, about 430 meters above sea level. The inhabitants are said Retignanesi.
History
First settlement
A possible date of origin of the village dates back to late Roman age, during the wars with the Ligurians during the twenty years from 560 to 580 AD. Some researches trace the name to Retinio, a Roman lieutennent who was given the district that became Ratiniana, then St. Peter's Retignano and finally Retignano.[1] About in 1100 A.D. was an independent municipality, headed by a mayor, and enjoyed a certain prosperity which lasted until June 17, 1776, when the Grand Duke of Tuscany Pietro Leopoldo ordered to eliminate the comunelli, that is "little municipality". After this, the center of the activity shifted to Ruosina and then Stazzema, which is nowadays considered the proper municipality (comune in Italian).
Twentieth century
During the years of the Great War (1915-1918 for Italy), but especially during the Second World War, many residents of Retignano chose to find their luck abroad, thus dispersing their origins in foreign countries. The main source of inspiration was the American continent, whereas many travelled to the United States. This phenomenon of emigration also concerned the whole Italy, at a time when, close to the Reconstruction, people wanted to improve their living conditions. Many retignanesi sought work in the cities and the phenomenon caused a signficant decrease of the number of inhabitants.
In the village there are two main associations which bring together the citizenship: the centennial Retignano Mercy, founded in 1908, and the local "CRS", a bar-friends association.
1944
In the summer of 1944, at the height of World War II, Nazi tyranny was also extended to the inland Versilia, including the village of Retignano and its surroundings, exploited for its strategic position from which you can observe the whole valley and the Tyrrhenian Sea horizon. In addition, the whole area was part of the Gothic Line, used by the Nazi soldiers to rule over the whole central Italy. In late July 1944, Nazis spread an order for Retignano inhabitants displacement. The aim was to expel the residents from their homes and flush the partisans who took refuge in the woods, as well as facilitate the passage of the Gothic Line, and then proceed with the bombardment of the mountain.
From Bettina Federigi's diaries you can even imagine what was it like to be in such a dramatic situation.
Saturday, July, 29th 1944
Yesterday, at almost 6 pm, the Germans spread sheets reporting displacement order for the inhabitants. Time: until the first of August 1944. [...] All the people I know run away carrying with them only few things; the Germans start shooting with their gun machines [...], they already blasted two houses [...] How many people riversed in the streets, somebody's crying, somebody's screaming, calling, asking for a help. The German Command headquarter, where they issued the displacement sheet, was plenty of people and their stuff. Many cannot manage to avoid the queue and demand for their safety pass.— Bettina Federigi, an extract from her journal published in Versilia Linea Gotica, an historical research written by Fabrizio Federigi.
Shortly before the evacuation, the nearby villages of Sant'Anna and Farnocchia suffered attacks from the German soldiers arrived few hours before, soon rejected by the local Resistance partisans. In late July, moreover, much of Farnocchia houses had been set on fire. The inhabitants of Retignano, intimidated by the enemy threats and horrors that were consumed in the area, gathered that evening in the main church, to pray to the Santissima Annunziata, considered like a patron along with Saint Peter. The pastor at the time, Don Marco Giannetti from Azzano, wrote an invocation to the Virgin Mary to beg her to save the inhabitants and spare other villages from ravage:
« O Maria, a Te che tutto puoi, affidiamo la protezione di questo paese.
Salvalo, o Maria, nel periodo burrascoso che attraversiamo. 1º agosto 1944 »
« Oh Mary, you can do everything, we rely on you for this village protection.
Defend it, oh Mary, in this blusterous time we're facing. August, 1st, 1944 »
After the World Wars
Third Millennium Retignano
Geography
The maximum altitude is approximately 913 meters above sea level, on the tips of Montalto, where there are the remains of an ancient quarry of Ruby Red, a precious and very rare marble present only in a few areas, and places of extraction of bardiglio (a type of marble too).
It enjoys a mild climate thanks to the opening on the sea, although there are heavy snowfalls in winter (2009 and 2012 years are remembered by the inhabitants for the amount of about 30 cm of snow), and, thanks to its location on hills, from Retignano you can see the valley of Stazzema almost completely. You can also see Mount Pania, Corchia, Matanna, Mount Nona, Mount Procinto and all the adjoining mountains. For this reason it was the seat of local people forts which warned the villagers of the imminent dangerous attacks from the enemies on the coast.
Climate (1960-1990)
The church
Some sources date the construction of the Saint Peter's Church in Retignano prior to the eighth century AD. Initially it was a small building with a facade facing the valley. On the left side was an entrance, later walled up, which today can still see some traces. During the 1200 and was extended toward the west. From 1525 to 1530 was enlarged at the rear with the addition of an apse and circular single-light windows. In 1581 the roof, damaged, was repaired and the occasion was seized for restoring the rectory, the floor and the Tomb of the parish priests (1588). Shortly before the unification of Italy 1861, the church of San Pietro was further 'modernized' by so doing they disappeared in a short time the last elements of considerable historical interest of the side facades. For lack of funds was not even possible to create a design architect Andreotti of Pietrasanta. In 1902 was restored and the vestry were added in the 1950s of the marble staircases and transferred some registers upstairs. At the beginning of the 3rd millennium, the weather has damaged the single-light windows and interior walls.
The furniture and historical relics
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Among the objects of a certain value stands stoup goblet dating from the sixteenth century and attributed to the school Stagio Stagi of Pietrasanta. It 'about a hundred years before the processional cross made entirely of silver. The Baptistery of Vincent Tedeschi by Seravezza, the baptismal font Sarzanese of John and Rose on the facade are all works dating from around 1562–1563. Two Tabernacles, located in the side altars in the seventeenth century, were designed and built in 1480 by Lawrence Stagi and his pupils, who ultimarono work in early 1500. Above the tabernacle of the right was a small painting on canvas, dedicated to the Annunciation, and produced by Tommasi in 1734. In 1964 he was crowned with a crown of gold for the narrow escape from war. In 2009 the painting was stolen. Inside the sacristy are preserved today as registers of marriages and baptisms for the dead, some of which date back to the late fifteenth century.
The cemetery
In 1840 was started the project to build a cemetery. The upper floor was added in 1930 and adorned with special chapels and tombs. Fifty years later it was developed an upper floor of the cemetery.
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In the initial period of construction, the project for the construction of the cemetery underwent several changes, especially due to the recent victims of epidemics. In the latter case, the entrance to the cemetery is still visible on a plaque which speaks of the epidemic of cholera that struck the country in 1857 and had some cases even in the years to follow, causing serious havoc among the inhabitants. Although today the plaque has been partially damaged by weather and half of it has fallen into disrepair due to a failure of the surrounding land, you can still read what is written there.
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When this district was invaded by the disease cholera, from September 5 to 15 October 45 corpses were buried in this land which then, as intended by that time all the burial of the dead, was conveniently enclosed by walls in 1857 and reduced to a regular graveyard, being the master Joseph Graziani the only performer of that work. peace to the souls of those who rest here, is the thought of death in the minds of those who still breathe the air of life ...
Monument to the Fallen
To the left of the main entrance of the cemetery, there is an area dedicated to the fallen during the great wars of the twentieth century that marked deeply the country. The area consists of a commemorative walkway to the main monument, while around it stand of trees to symbolize the lives of the men started to fight and never returned. The monument, built in the decades to follow, he also wants to be a constant reminder of the atrocities of war, and a warning that similar events do not happen again. On the main facade has been engraved with a dove, symbol of peace, within whose wings are the words of comfort and an invitation to the brotherhood between peoples.
The bell
The bell attached to the church dedicated to St. Peter's was built over the 17 years from 1599 in 1616. The bells that were included (still existing and working), date back to 1510 and another one in 1570–1571, although both were consecrated only in 1843. On November 26, 1961 was added a third bell, blessed with Bishop Hugh Camozzo, the then Archbishop of Pisa. To follow the Centenarian Celebration for the Unity of Italy, in 1964 Camozzo opened the cabinet, the bells that still syncs.
Marble quarries
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The upper Versilia is characterized by several marble extraction sites. In particular, the gather of quarries located in Retignano, on the mount named Montalto (in English "high mountain"), ar quite well-known. In 1788, following the local decision to "liberalize mining" and with fundings from the Elisian Bank of Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, several Italian and foreign entrepreneurs chose to invest in Versilia and aimed to buy lands in the former comunelli of Retignano and Volegno, carrying out the first marble extraction in Versilia during the Industrial Revolution. Among the most important entrepreneurs interested in the quarries of Retignano there are: Sancholle, Beresford and especially Henraux.
Montalto quarries became operative from the biennium 1818-1820, when it was possibile to extract and then work a precious kind of marble very appreciated abroad and know, in Italian, as "bardiglio fiorito". The production was remarkable thanks to the high demand for this marble and its quality. However, the miners were forced to work in adverse conditions due to the inaccessible location of the quarries and the difficulty of transporting marble heavy blocks from the quarry site to the collection centers and laboratories, down the valley. Although the production of marble lasted for more than a century and a half, the difficulties were not negligible and, at the beginning of the twentieth century, the quarries risked closure.
During the Second World War and the subsequent Nazi occupation of the municipality of Stazzema, Retignano quarries suspended their mining activities. The greatest entrepreneurs, after World War II, entrusted the quarries to the communities of local quarrymen, preferring to invest in other more profitable sites. In the 1960s, the previous system for extraction (named lizzatura) was abandoned and the marble quarries in Retignano were not given a proper equipment nor roads for vehicles used for the loading/unloading of the material. For this reason, during the Seventies those quarries got abandoned.
Today the caves are freely accessible to everyone and can be reached via the paths in the woods linking the villages or Retignano and Volegno. As already noted, the quarries today are not in business but are rich in almost all medicinal plants typical of the Mediterranean are found in abundance thyme, asparagus, camugero, grape seed and other plants still.
Demographic figures
| Year | Inhabitants |
|---|---|
| 1551 | 213 |
| 1745 | 386 |
| 1835 | 455 |
| 1840 | 519 |
| 1843 | 536 |
| 1845 | 559 |
| 1928 | 800 |
| 1964 | 550 |
| 2000 | less than 400 |
| 2014 | about 350[3] |
As you can see, the number of the inhabitants had rapidly decreased in the last 40 years due to the economical boom in the 1960s, which made most of the people move to the nearby cities, or because of the two worldwide conflicts, which caused a high number of deaths. Also, many Retignano inhabitants moved to the United States or managed to reach South America, especially Argentina.
Third Millennium Retignano
In the village there are two associations that meet citizenship: the centennial of Retignano Mercy, founded in 1908, and C.R.S. (which stands for Circolo Ricreativo Sportivo and can be translated in Sports Recreational Club), founded originally as C.R. Operaio (C. R. Worker). In 2001 following the merger with Polisportiva Retignano took its current name, its own representative in the football league is a militant FIGC third category, after a season in the second. In all, the country team has won as many as 9 tournaments, earning nine stars on the coat (a cat in the foreground on a white-blue).
Local people organize regular village events of a certain social, religious and tourist importance, such as festivals on the occasion of Saint Peter's celebrating day, processions, illuminations of Jesus' Dead, which always attract hundreds of people, small exhibitions, dancing in the streets. The country is home to the Alta Versilia Football Tournament, a challenge involving long formations of the countries of Stazzemese to win the 'Trophy Barsottini', a special cup in honour of a great male player died a long time ago. Finally, in summer, on June, the 29th (the feast of the saint patron of the country) is organized a festival, called Sagra del Tordello (Tordello Feast), usually lasting three or four days. The event is sometimes repeated in mid-July and attracts many people, especially for the quiet, relaxing atmosphere of the mountains at night.
Since 1953 in the village it's active a Weather Station, which provides statistics for the entire municipality of Stazzema. Even if that meteorological station is not advanced, it keeps providing data to servers just like it has just been installed.
In 2006 they ultimated the reconstruction of the older school building, turned into a restaurant and nearby into the headquarters of CERAFRI, which is a center for the monitoring of the hydrological risk of Versilia arose after the needs that emerged as a result of flood in 1996.
In 2009 the theft of the famous shrine of the Immaculate Conception framework has caused great distress in the country, even the dismay of the priest. During the rule of the Germans in World War II in Versilia, the villagers had turned to that framework Retignano was spared from destruction and displacement. After some hours, some still-unknown soldiers brought the news about the countermand.
In 2013 summer, Retignano held the 1st Trofeo San Pietro, which consists in a competitive race and in a non-competitive one, with special tracks for children. The paths were spread all over the village with different difficulties depending on the type of race choice. From Retignano you can take a hike up to Mont'Alto and access the "Scalette" (Ladders).
Trivia
- In 1640 Pope Paul V granted special indulgences to those who recited the fifteen items in the church of the Rosary.
- The church was consecrated in the distant December 29, although the year is not yet clear.
- December 21, 1959 the church of St. Peter's Rectory was elevated from to 'Priory' by order of the Archbishop of Pisa.
- From the 2011 the country has arrived online with a website dedicated entirely.
- The current mayor of Stazzema, Maurizio Verona, comes from Retignano.
See also
References
- This article is a translation of the Italian article with the same name.
External links
