Codiponte is a village in the municipality of

Casola in Lunigiana Casola in Lunigiana is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Massa and Carrara in the Italian region Tuscany, located about northwest of Florence and about north of Massa. Main sights *Church of ''Santa Felicita''. Known from the late ...

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It is located in the

Province of Massa and Carrara The province of Massa-Carrara ( it, provincia di Massa-Carrara) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Tuscany region of central Italy. It is named after the provincial capital Massa, Tuscany, Massa, and Carrara, the other main town in the prov ...

and is about 20 minutes drive from the

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 ...

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

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

Alpi Apuane The Apuan Alps ( it, Alpi Apuane) 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 . ...

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 () is an ancient road and pilgrimage route running from the cathedral city of Canterbury in England, through France and Switzerland, to Rome and then to Apulia, Italy, where there were ports of embarkation for the Holy Land. It w ...

for pilgrims travelling to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. 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 tower ...

and the medieval " Pieve dei Santi Cornelio e Cipriano", which is dedicated to the Saints Cornelius and Cyprian. 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 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