Albavilla

Albavilla
Country	Italy
region	Lombardy
province	Como  (CO)
Local name	Vila
Coordinates	45 ° 48 '  N , 9 ° 11'  E Coordinates: 45 ° 48 '0 "  N , 9 ° 11' 0"  E
height	427  m slm
surface	10.55 km²
Residents	6,400 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density	607 inhabitants / km²
Post Code	22031
prefix	031
ISTAT number	013003
Popular name	albavillesi
Patron saint	Victor of Milan ( May 8 )
Website	Albavilla

Appiano Gentile municipality in the province of Como

town hall

Festa dei Crotti

Albavilla (until 1928 Villalbese ) is an Italian municipality in the province of Como in Lombardy . The place has 6400 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2019) on an area of ​​10.55 km².

geography

Albavilla is located in the Brianza countryside , 37 km north of Milan and 8 km east of Como in the so-called triangle of Lake Como (Triangolo Lariano) between Como and Lecco . The districts (Frazioni) Carcano, Corogna, Vill'Albese, Molena and Saruggia belong to the municipality of Albavilla. The neighboring municipalities are Albese con Cassano , Alserio , Erba , Faggeto Lario , Monguzzo and Orsenigo . The lowest point of the place is at 260  m slm on Lake Alserio, the highest is Monte Bollettone ( 1320  m slm ).

history

Prehistory and Antiquity

The area has been populated at least since the Neolithic . On the banks of the neighboring lakes ( Lago di Pusiano , Lago di Alserio, Lago di Montorfano) remains of pile dwellings have been excavated. Around 1200 BC The Celtic Golasecca culture spread . Celts immigrating from the north merged with the local population to form the (Cisalpine) Gauls ; 203 to 41 BC The area was part of the province of Gallia cisalpina of the Roman Empire and then became an integral part of the Roman heartland. A Roman road connected Como with Lecco, Bergamo and Brescia . There are a large number of archaeological finds from Roman times . The historian Andrea Alciato (1492–1550) located the Villa Alsium in Albavilla, residence of General Lucius Virginius Rufus . The part of the name "Villa" indicates the character of Albavilla as a place of rural residences and the summer resort.

middle Ages

With the collapse of the Roman Empire, the invasion of wandering peoples from the north and east began: Franks , Alemanni , Goths , from the 5th century onwards Visigoths , Vandals and Huns . The population fled to the mountains and into the mountain valleys. A great famine is reported in the year 568 AD. The Lombards moved to Northern Italy under King Alboin in 568 , their empire ended in 774 when it defeated Charlemagne . Subsequently, Albavilla shared the fortunes of Milan and Lombardy . The Lombards divided the area into five counties (Contadi); Albavilla belonged to the parish (Pieve) Incino, one of the parishes of the Contado Martesana. The division into parish clusters lasted until 1786, when the administration was reorganized under Austrian rule.

After Frederick Barbarossa's accession to the throne in 1152, the Martesana population fought against the Milanese on Barbarossa's side. Milanese troops first conquered the area around Carcano (now part of Albavilla), but Barbarossa came to the aid of the allies and inflicted a heavy defeat on the Milanese at the Battle of Carcano in 1160. Then the fortunes of war changed again, and in the Peace of Constance in 1183 the Martesana fell to Milan. It remained under the rule of the Visconti and the Sforza .

Modern times and Risorgimento

The Spanish rule in the 16th century brought heavy taxes and economic decline, which was exacerbated by famine, wars and plague epidemics (1576, 1577 and 1630). The War of the Spanish Succession brought Northern Italy (with interruptions) under Austrian rule until 1859. Tax relief and efficient administration gave agriculture and trade a boom, especially under Maria Theresa . Albavilla doubled its population from 1727 to 1760. In the first half of the 19th century, the transport network was significantly improved. In the preliminary peace of Villafranca (1859) the area came to Italy. Albavilla developed from a farming village into a trading center and location of the silk industry.

20th century

In the 1930s, the water supply network was modernized and new transport connections were created with buses and the Como-Erba tram. The Milan-Erba railway line was opened as early as 1880. The crisis in the silk industry led to the closure of the historical silk mills (Civati, Rejna, Porro, Borselli, Giobbia, Feloy and most recently Dubini), today Albavilla lives from metalworking companies, textile industry, gardening, furniture industry and the service sector.

Demographic development

ISTAT data

Parish Church of San Vittore

Attractions

building

• Parish Church of San Vittore Martire. In 1727 the old parish church was replaced by a new building and the campanile was given a new position. During a later expansion between 1914 and 1917, the remaining parts of the old church were demolished and the campanile was moved back to its original position on the mountain side. Its ring consists of eight bells, cast in 1950 by the Barigozzi foundry (Milan). The bells are set up for the special ringing techniques of the Ambrosian rite .
• Romanesque oratory of Saints Cosma and Damiano in the hamlet of Corogna, end of the 14th century. Single nave nave with semicircular apse, flanked by the impressive medieval bell tower. Restorations in 1977 and 1983 restored the original appearance of the façade with exposed masonry and reopened two bricked-up apse windows.
• Oratory of San Lorenzo Martire in the Saruggia district
• Stately villas: the oldest are Villa Pina, Villa Giamminola, former seat of the town hall, Villa Giobbia (now a kindergarten), Villa Dubini and others.

Tourist destinations

• The crotti are caverns in the limestone slopes, which with their constant temperature of 12 ° to 14 ° serve as ideal storage cellars for agriculture. There are 34 crotti in the Albavilla area.
• The "Alpe del Viceré" is a plateau that extends over the foothills of Monte Bollettone above Albavilla at a height of 903  m slm . It can be reached from the village of Albavilla via a 6 km long road. The area has parking and picnic areas, restaurants and shelters.
• The Monte Bollettone, accessible via the Alpe del Viceré, is a popular lookout point.
• The Buco del piombo , a natural cave in the municipality of Erba (Lombardy) , is a paleolithic settlement, accessible from both Albavilla and the Alpe Del Viceré.
• Alserio Lake is an important wetland habitat with endemic plants and a rich fauna of amphibians and water birds.

literature

• Anna Ferrari-Bravo and Paola Colombini: Guida d'Italia. Lombardia (esclusa Milano). TCI, Milano 1987, p. 306.
• Luigi M. Gaffuri: Albavilla, storia, geografia, aneddotica, folclore. Albavilla 1966.

Web links

Commons : Albavilla  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Albavilla on lombardiabeniculturali.it architetture.
• Albavilla on lombardia.indettaglio.it, accessed January 9, 2016.
• Albavilla on comuni-italiani.
• Albavilla on tuttitalia.it/lombardia.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Statistiche demografiche ISTAT. Monthly population statistics of the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica , as of December 31 of 2019.
2. ↑ Parish Church of San Vittore Martire (photo) in lombardiabeniculturali.it
3. ^ Romanesque oratorio Santi Cosma and Damiano (photo) in lombardiabeniculturali.it
4. ^ Oratory of San Lorenzo Martire (photo) in lombardiabeniculturali.it