The Garfagnana () is a historical and geographical region of central Italy, today part of the
province of Lucca
The province of Lucca () is a province in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Lucca.
It has an area of and a population of about 390,000. The province contains 33 ''comuni'' (: ''comune'').
Geography
Situated in northwester ...
, in
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 ...
. It is the upper valley or basin of the river
Serchio, and thus lies between the main ridge of the Northern
Apennines to the north-east and the
Alpi Apuane to the west. The principal towns are
Castelnuovo di Garfagnana and
Barga.
History
Garfagnana was historically inhabited by Ligurian (
Apuani and Friniati) and
Etruscan populations.
[Giulio Ciampoltrini, ''Gli Etruschi della Garfagnana. Ricerche nell'insediamento della Murella a Castelnuovo di Garfagnana'', Polistampa Firenze 2005] The area was conquered by the
Romans in 180 BC. After the fall of the
Carolingian empire
The Carolingian Empire (800–887) was a Franks, Frankish-dominated empire in Western and Central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as List of Frankish kings, kings of the Franks since ...
in 888 it came under the control of various
feudal
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...
lords, and was later caught up in the rivalry between the
Guelphs
The Guelphs and Ghibellines ( , ; ) were Political faction, factions supporting the Pope (Guelphs) and the Holy Roman Emperor (Ghibellines) in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy during the Middle Ages. During the 12th ...
and the
Ghibellines. In 1248 the
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...
Frederick II ceded it to the
Republic of Lucca. In the fifteenth century much of the territory came under the control of the
d'Este family of
Ferrara
Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...
, and in 1847 the remaining part was absorbed into the
Duchy of Modena. With the
unification of Italy
The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century Political movement, political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the Proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, annexation of List of historic states of ...
, the Garfagnana became part of the
province of Massa e Carrara, and in 1923 passed to that of Lucca.
Geography
The Garfagnana is almost entirely mountainous. It has heavy rainfall, and much of it is densely wooded, often with
sweet chestnut, ''Castanea sativa''. Chestnuts were until recently an important food source; the
Farina di Neccio della Garfagnana, a chestnut flour, has
DOP status. The
farro of the region, Farro della Garfagnana, has
Indicazione Geografica Protetta status; the area is also known for its lentils and for its
porcini mushrooms. It is the area of origin of the
Garfagnina breed of cattle, of the
Garfagnina breed of goat, and of the
Garfagnina Bianca sheep breed.
The capital of the region is
Castelnuovo di Garfagnana.
The Garfagnana and
Lunigiana were struck by a powerful
earthquake
An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...
on 7 September 1920. The worst damage and largest number of deaths were at
Villa Collemandina; the greatest intensity was recorded there and at
Fivizzano.
References
Bibliography
* Giulio Ciampoltrini, ''Ricerche sugli insediamenti liguri dell’alta valle del Serchio'', in “Bollettino di Archeologia”, 19-20-21, 1993, pp. 39–70. (Italian)
* Giulio Ciampoltrini, ''L’insediamento etrusco nella valle del Serchio fra IV e III sec. a.C. Considerazioni sull’abitato di Ponte Gini di Orentano'', in “Studi Etruschi”, LXII, 1996, pp. 173–210.
* Giulio Ciampoltrini, ''Gli Etruschi della Garfagnana. Ricerche nell'insediamento della Murella a Castelnuovo di Garfagnana'', Polistampa Firenze 2005 (Italian)
* Giulio Ciampoltrini, Paolo Notini, Silvio Fioravanti, Consuelo Spataro, ''Gli Etruschi e il Serchio'', I Segni dell'Auser, Bientina 2012, pp. 80 (Italian)
{{Authority control
Geographical, historical and cultural regions of Italy
Geography of Tuscany
Province of Lucca