The Lomellina (

Western Lombard Western Lombard is a group of dialects of Lombard, a Romance language spoken in Italy. It is widespread in the Lombard provinces of Milan, Monza, Varese, Como, Lecco, Sondrio, a small part of Cremona (except Crema and its neighbours), Lo ...

: Ümlína/Lümelína) is a geographical and historical area in the Po Valley of northern Italy, located in south-western Lombardy between the

Sesia The Sesia (Latin ''Sesites'' or ''Sessites'') is a river in Piedmont, north-western Italy, tributary to the Po. Geography Its sources are the glaciers of Monte Rosa at the border with Switzerland. It flows through the Alpine valley Valsesia a ...

, Po and

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

rivers. It is one of three areal divisions of the

Province of Pavia The province of Pavia ( it, Provincia di Pavia) is a province in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy; its capital is Pavia. , the province has a population of 548,722 inhabitants and an area of ; the town of Pavia has a population of 72,205. ...

.Lomellina (Office of Tourism of Lombardy)

Geography

Lomellina includes 58 ''

comuni 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 ...

'' (municipalities), the most important today being

Vigevano Vigevano (; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Avgevan) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Pavia, Lombardy in northern Italy. A historic art town, it is also renowned for shoemaking and is one of the main centres of Lomellina, a rice-growing a ...

and Mortara; the name however derives from its ancient capital

Lomello Lomello is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 50 km southwest of Milan and about 30 km west of Pavia, on the right bank of the Agogna. It gives its name to the surrounding ...

. The area is particularly renowned for its

rice paddies A paddy field is a flooded field of arable land used for growing semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in southern China, associated with pre-Au ...

: the crop has been cultivated here since the sixteenth century.

History

In ancient times Lomellina was inhabited by the Ligurian tribes of the Laevi, and the Marici (co-founders of

Ticinum Ticinum (the modern Pavia) was an ancient city of Gallia Transpadana, founded on the banks of the river of the same name (now the Ticino river) a little way above its confluence with the Padus ( Po). It was said by Pliny the Elder to have bee ...

, the modern

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 cap ...

) and the Libici (founders of

Vercelli Vercelli (; pms, Vërsèj ), is a city and ''comune'' of 46,552 inhabitants (January 1, 2017) in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, ...

). Later they were Romanized. Although crossed by an important road connecting Ticinum to

Augusta Taurinorum 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 ...

(the modern Turin), the region seems not to have been intensively urbanized under the Romans, with the exception of the area of Vigevano. With the fall of the

Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period ...

and the arrival of the

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the '' History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...

, who set their capital in

, Lomellina acquired importance, with a comital dynasty (''Conti di Lomello'') rising in Lomello. The city of Pavia conquered Lomello in 1146, and the area was later under the Visconti, as part of the Duchy of Milan. In 1707, after the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

, a part of Lomellina was conquered by the Piedmontese House of Savoy and made an autonomous province. The area of Vigevano and

Robbio Robbio is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 50 km southwest of Milan and about 45 km west of Pavia. It is part of Lomellina traditional region. Robbio borders the ...

, called ''Contado di Vigevano'' and which had been autonomous since 1532, was also acquired by Piedmont in 1743. In 1859 the administrative reform promoted by

Urbano Rattazzi Urbano Pio Francesco Rattazzi (; 29 June 1808 5 June 1873) was an Italian statesman. Personal life He was born in Alessandria (Piedmont). He studied law at Turin, and in 1838 began his practice, which met with marked success at the capital and ...

annexed Lomellina to the

province of Pavia The province of Pavia ( it, Provincia di Pavia) is a province in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy; its capital is Pavia. , the province has a population of 548,722 inhabitants and an area of ; the town of Pavia has a population of 72,205. ...

just conquered from

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, becoming later part of the newly formed

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...

Gallery

File:Lago di Sartirana Lomellina, Pavia, Italy - Il canneto.jpg, The lake of Sartirana Lomellina File:Fiume Po a Balossa Bigli, Pavia, Italy.jpg, Po River near Balossa Bigli, a hamlet of Mezzana Bigli

References

External links

Lomellina official website

Lomellina portal
{{Authority control Province of Pavia Geographical, historical and cultural regions of Italy Geography of Lombardy History of Lombardy Geography of Piedmont History of Piedmont

Geography

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links