Lavina is a ''

frazione A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' ('municipality') in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidat ...

'' (and

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

) of the municipality of

Rezzo Rezzo () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about northwest of Imperia. Geography As of 31 December 2004, Rezzo had a population of 390 and an area of ...

, in

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

, northern

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 ...

. Up to 1928 it was a self-standing

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 ...

Geography

The village of Lavina is located close to the

Giara di Rezzo The Giara di Rezzo is a stream (in Italian language, Italian ''torrente'') of Liguria, Italy. Etymology The term ''giara'' is used in Western Liguria referring to creeks with large and gravelly beds; Rezzo is the main village of the middle ...

, mostly on its

right bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrain alongsid ...

s, while the hamlet of ''Borghetto'' is on the opposite side of the creek. The former comune of Lavina also encompassed woodland and

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable con ...

s on the surrounding mountain slopes, thus permitting some

cattle breeding Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock ...

. The area of Lavina is prone to

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...

s, which caused heavy damages both in the past and in recent years.

History

A first document referring to Lavina is of 1320 and mentions the parish church of ''Sant'Antonio Abate''. The "Statuti di Lavina" (''

Statute A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

s of Lavina'') were written in 1357, when the village was part of the Maro

feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...

. Those statutes regulated several mattere like the use of pastures and waters, municipal and judicial offices and several aspects of property transferts. In 1455 Lavina was given by the

House of Ventimiglia The Ventimiglia family is an old Italian noble family of Liguria. Descendants of the family held positions and titles of nobility in Sicily in Mediaeval times and later. Members of the family * Giovanni I Ventimiglia (1383–1475), eighth coun ...

to the Lascaris, along with the rest of the valley, and so it passe under the control of the ''Contea di Tenda'' (''

Tende Tende (; Italian language, Italian, Occitan language, Occitan and Royasc: ''Tenda'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in southeastern France. Geography Tende is located within Mercanto ...

's county''). Generally speaking Lavina followed the fate of Rezzo and of its valley, which was later absorbed by casa Savoia. The village was originally located in a place high on the river but it was destroyed by a landslide and had to be reconstructed in the present-day location. Between the 18th and 19th century, during the period defined by some

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

s as the ''French Regime'', the comune of Lavina was united with the neighbouring comune of Cenova. Both the villages obtained their autonomy at the end of the

First French Empire The First French Empire or French Empire (; ), also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. It lasted from ...

and maintained it until 1928. In that year they were both absorbed by the comune of Rezzo, so that the whole Giara valley was unified from the administrative point of view.

Relevant buildings

* Sant’Antonio Abate parish church, built in a late-

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style in 1725 on a pre-existing building of the 16th century; * Madonna della Neve sanctuary; * Saint Jean the Baptist's oratory, dating back to the 16th century and located close to the parish church; * Saint Pantaleo chapel, with 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 late 16th century; * Saint Bernard's chapel, standing outside the village centre and still bearing some ancient

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

es.

Culture

Three

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

s who worked in Liguria and

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

between the 16th and 17th centuries were born in Lavina: * Giovanni Antonio Ricca ''il Vecchio'' (''the Old''), * Giovanni Antonio Ricca ''il Giovane'' (''the Young''), 1688-1748, * Antonio Maria Ricca, 1660-1725.

Bibliography

References

{{authority control Frazioni of the Province of Imperia Former municipalities of the Province of Imperia