Giaveno is a ''
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 ...
'' (municipality) in the
Metropolitan City of Turin in the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
region
Piedmont
it, Piemontese
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, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, demographics1_title2 ...
, located about west of
Turin
Turin ( , 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 from 1861 to 1865. The ...
.
History
Giaveno has very ancient origins; some local historians trace the first settlement back to Roman times. The important Gavi family of
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 ...
(Turin) built a farmhouse here, probably in the 1st century AD; to corroborate this thesis there are some random finds of necropolis materials in the fields at the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Bussone (Villa village) and a stretch of paving at the bridge of the Tortorello torrent.
It is said that in 773 Charlemagne crossed the watershed that divides the Val di Susa from that of the Sangone, came to the plain located near the village Gavensis and caught the Longobards from behind between the Chiusa di S. Michele and Villardora and attained victory by defeating them there.
In 1103 the
Count of Savoy
The titles of count, then of duke of Savoy are titles of nobility attached to the historical territory of Savoy. Since its creation, in the 11th century, the county was held by the House of Savoy. The County of Savoy was elevated to a duchy at ...
,
Umberto II
en, Albert Nicholas Thomas John Maria of Savoy
, house = Savoy
, father = Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
, mother = Princess Elena of Montenegro
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Racconigi, Piedmont, Kingdom of Italy
, d ...
, donated the territory of Giaveno to the
Abbey of San Michele della Chiusa, but
Frederick Barbarossa, despot of the time, removed it from the Abbey on January 26, 1195 and give it to Charles I, bishop of Turin.
Giaveno returned to the abbots of San Michele on February 21, 1209 with a donation from the Count of Savoy Tommaso I, who fortified the square with a robust wall and built a castle there.
Subsequently, in 1347, Abbot Rodolfo di Mombello decided to "''villam iavenni murare''", with two trebuchet walls (about 6 meters high), interspersed with five circular towers. The perimeter of the "Abbey Citadel" is still clearly legible today.
In 1611 a new patron S. Antero, whose relics were moved from Rome to Giaveno, joined the owner of the protection of the village, S. Lorenzo. In 1622 Cardinal Maurizio asked for and obtained from the Holy See a bull approving the erection of the Insigne Collegiate of San Lorenzo Martire. At the end of the seventeenth century numerous raids and looting by the French general Nicolas Catinat stripped the villages, the castle and the churches of their valuables.
1630 proved to be a particularly critical year for the country, since during the Second Monferrato War (an episode which can be considered part of the wider
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...
) Giaveno was occupied by French troops led by the Duke of Montmorency. In the meantime, the plague erupted throughout Piedmont, causing many victims.
The Dukes of Savoy went to war against the French. The Marshal of France
Nicolas Catinat
Nicolas Catinat (, 1 September 1637 – 22 February 1712) was a French military commander and Marshal of France under Louis XIV. The son of a magistrate, Catinat was born in Paris on 1 September 1637. He entered the Gardes Françaises at an ...
invaded Piedmont, setting it on fire, and, after the French victory at the battle of Marsaglia (1693), Giaveno suffered looting and burning.
The French were defeated and driven out of Piedmont after the fatal siege of Turin on September 8, 1706. Important pages of history were written during the Resistance period in World War II (1943-1945), which saw the
partisans and the entire population rise up against German and Fascist forces. For these episodes, the town of Giaveno was awarded the silver medal for military value by President
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro (; 9 September 1918 – 29 January 2012) was the president of Italy from 1992 to 1999. A member of Christian Democracy (DC), he became an independent politician after the DC's dissolution in 1992, and was close to the centr ...
in 1997.
Twin towns
*
Brinkmann, Argentina
*
Chevreuse
Chevreuse () is a commune in the French department of Yvelines, administrative region of Île-de-France, north-central France.
Geography
Chevreuse is located south of Paris, in the middle of a regional natural park, Parc naturel régional de l ...
, France
*
Novska
Novska is a town in the Sisak-Moslavina County of Croatia. It is located in western part of the historic region of Slavonia, between Kutina and Nova Gradiška, linear distance southeast of the capital, Zagreb.
Demographics
Novska has a total pop ...
, Croatia
*
Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, France
Notable natives
*
Dino Pogolotti (1879–1923), real estate entrepreneur
References
External links
Official website*
{{Turin-geo-stub