Codiponte is a village in the municipality of Casola in Lunigiana,

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It is located in the

Province of Massa and Carrara The province of Massa-Carrara () is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is named after the provincial capital Massa, Tuscany, Massa, and Carrara, the other main town in the province. History The province of "Mass ...

and is about 20 minutes drive from the

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

Aulla Aulla is a ''comune'' in the province of Massa and Carrara, Tuscany, central Italy. It is located in the valley of the Magra, River Magra. Geology In 1977, the Italian geologist Augusto Azzaroli discovered a series of mammal rests with a correl ...

. The population is about 200. Codiponte lies in the shadow of the

Alpi Apuane The Apuan Alps () are a mountain range in northern Tuscany, Italy. They are included between the valleys of the Serchio and Magra rivers, and, to the northwest, the Garfagnana and Lunigiana, with a total length of approximately . The name de ...

and in the valley of the River Aullela. It is 255 metres above sea level and has a continental climate with hot summers and cold winters including snowfalls during winter. Summer temperatures are in the high 30°s and winters around 0 °C.

History

Codiponte was once an important stopping place on the

Via Francigena The Via Francigena (), also known as Francisca or Romea, is an ancient road and Christian pilgrimage, pilgrimage route running from the City status in the United Kingdom#Cathedral towns, cathedral city of Canterbury in England, through France and ...

for pilgrims travelling to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. Overlooking the village are ruins from the 13th-century "Castile Codiponte" and the "Convent of Clarisse of Santa Maria del Castellaro". A stone bridge with three arches which was built in 1703 and repaired in 1936. A new bridge 500 metres downstream was built in 1970. A Roman village is believed to have been located on the northern approach to the bridge near the church.

Church

The village has a 17th-century

campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

and the medieval "

Pieve In Italy in the Middle Ages, a ''pieve'' (, ; ; : ''pievi'') was a rural church with a baptistery, upon which other churches without baptisteries depended. ''Pieve'' is also an Italian and Corsican term signifying the medieval ecclesiastical/a ...

dei Santi Cornelio e Cipriano", which is dedicated to the Saints Cornelius and

Cyprian Cyprian (; ; to 14 September 258 AD''The Liturgy of the Hours according to the Roman Rite: Vol. IV.'' New York: Catholic Book Publishing Company, 1975. p. 1406.) was a bishop of Carthage and an early Christian writer of Berbers, Berber descent, ...

. A noticeboard in the church reads: The church is believed to have been in ruins when it was rebuilt in the Romanesque style in the 12th century and restored after a landslide in the 14th century. The campanile was built in the 17th century. A

triptych A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all m ...

of the Madonna and Child, Saints Cornelius and Cyprian, and Jesus was made around 1440.

Grape festival

Each year in October, Codiponte residents celebrate ''La Vendemmia'', the grape harvest.

Gallery

File:Codiponte1.jpg, Aullela River at Codiponte File:Codiponte-pieve santi Cornelio e Cipriano-facciata.jpg, San Cipriano Church and Campanile File:Codiponte-pieve santi Cornelio e Cipriano-abside.jpg, Exterior of church File:Codiponte-pieve santi Cornelio e Cipriano-navate.jpg, Nave and aisles

References

External links