Guardia Piemontese

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Guardia Piemontese
No coat of arms available.
Guardia Piemontese (Italy)
Guardia Piemontese
Country Italy
region Calabria
province Cosenza  (CS)
Coordinates 39 ° 28 ′  N , 16 ° 0 ′  E Coordinates: 39 ° 28 ′ 0 ″  N , 16 ° 0 ′ 0 ″  E
height 515  m slm
surface 21 km²
Residents 1,802 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density 86 inhabitants / km²
Post Code 87020
prefix 0982
ISTAT number 078061
Popular name Guardioti
Website Guardia Piemontese

Guardia Piemontese is an Italian city in the province of Cosenza in Calabria with 1802 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2019).

In 2016 Guardia Piemontese was awarded the honorary title “ Reformation City of Europe ” by the Community of Evangelical Churches in Europe .

Location and dates

Guardia Piemontese is located about 55 km northwest of Cosenza on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea . The neighboring municipalities are Acquappesa , Cetraro , Fuscaldo and Mongrassano .

A dialect of the Occitan language is spoken in the village .

history

The time when the place was founded is unknown. The place names changed. Probably based on a lookout point for Saracens in the area of ​​the feudal lords of Fuscaldo , dated to the 11th century , the place was initially called Guardia Fiscalda, then after the settlement of Occitan-speaking Waldensians Guardia dei Valdi, after their suppression, Guardia Lombarda . The current place name has been in effect since 1863.

From 1375, the Waldensian Piedmontese who had fled the Inquisition settled in what is today the upper town, 500 m above sea level. As early as 1315, Waldensians first settled in Montalto Uffugo , and later in San Sosti dei Valdesi , Vacarizzo , Argentina and San Vincenzo . The local liege lord Spinelli, lord of Fuscaldo, granted them this refuge. For a long time, the Waldensians looked like Catholics, went to mass and had their children baptized in the Catholic Church . In private the Waldensians adhered to their faith, but only received Waldensian preachers on pastoral trips for a few days every two years or so .

The successes of the Reformation convinced the secret Waldenses not to have to hide their faith any longer. At their synod in Chanforan (Piedmont) in 1532 they decided to confess openly. Calabrian Waldensians then sent Marco Uscegli to Geneva with the request to send preachers. The preacher Gian Luigi Pascale came to Calabria, where he opened Waldensian temples in Guardia Piemontese and San Sosti. The clandestine Waldensians did the same in the Piedmontese traditional residential areas . The responsible Catholic bishop of Mondovì , Cardinal Michele Ghislieri , initiated a crusade against the Waldensians in 1560. Ghisleri was elected Pope (Pius V) in 1566 and later canonized.

The local Catholic abbot Giovan Antonio Anania informed Ghislieri that the Waldensians in Calabria also employed their own preachers. Ghislieri thereupon ordered the abbot to stamp out the Waldensian heresy under the supervision of his local Archbishop of Cosenza , Taddeo Gaddi . Anania tried to persuade the Waldensians to convert first with threats. But they refused. Unsuspecting, many Waldensians fled from surrounding places to the fortified Guardia Piemontese. Her liege lord Salvatore Spinelli (around 1506–5 October 1565) tried to persuade her to give in and suggested that Pascale and Uscegli flee, but both without success.

In the end Spinelli, who feared himself being accused of aiding heretics, resorted to a ruse. In June 1561 he asked for admission to the city for himself and 50 of his men, pretending to come unarmed. The guardians, as obedient lieutenants, opened the city to their masters. On the night of June 5th, Spinelli and his henchmen took out their hidden weapons and took possession of the city. During this and in other pogroms in the following two weeks, Spinelli and his henchmen murdered around 2000 Waldensians in Guardia Piemontese and other places in his fiefdom.

Porta del Sangue

The name of the city gate, Porta del Sangue (Blood Gate), reminds of this bloody act, because the blood of the murdered should have flowed to the gate. Near the city gate is the Centro di Cultura Giovan Luigi Pascale, which also shows an exhibition on the history of the Guardiotic Waldenses.

The survivors of the massacre had to convert to the Roman Catholic faith. Marriages between bride and groom who were both of Waldensian origin were forbidden. Spioncini had to be let into the house doors , through which inquisitors could spy into the houses from outside to see whether the forced converts at home were not secretly continuing the Waldensian tradition. These spioncini can still be found on some doors today. The Waldensian temple was razed. At its site, today's Piazza Chiesa Valdese, a rock from Piedmont rises today, which the predominantly Waldensian partner community of Torre Pellice donated in 1975. A plaque in front of it gives the names of 118 guardians murdered in the 1561 massacre. In glorious memory of the eradication of the Waldensian heresy, Salvatore Spinelli, who was made Marquis of Fuscaldo for his deed in April 1565 , donated the Dominican church Chiesa del SS. Rosario on site.

Attractions

The city center with its narrow streets and the ruins of a city wall is well worth seeing. There is a large tower of the former 15th century castle. The Catholic parish church of Sant'Andrea apostolo on Piazza Pietro Valdo has a portal that is well worth seeing and inside a carved choir from the 18th century.

The Terme Luigiane thermal baths have existed in Guardia Piemontese since 1446 . Today there is a modern thermal facility in the village.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Statistiche demografiche ISTAT. Monthly population statistics of the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica , as of December 31 of 2019.
  2. ^ City portrait of the project “Cities of the Reformation of Europe” by Vincenzo Rochetti: Guardia Piemontese. Italy. Where Occitan is still spoken today. In: reformation-cities.org/cities, accessed on February 15, 2020. For the significance of Guardia Piemontese in the history of the Reformation, see the History section
  3. ^ Hans Peter Kunert: Quale grafia per l'occitano di Guardia Piemontese? In: Quaderni del Dipartimento di Linguistica. Volume 10 (= Series Linguistica. Volume 4). 1993, pp. 27-36.
  4. ^ Hans Peter Kunert: L'occitan en Calàbria. In: Estudis Occitans. Volume 16, 1994, ISSN  0980-7845 , pp. 3-14.
  5. ^ Hans Peter Kunert: L'occitan en Calabre. In: Revue des langues romanes. Volume 98, No. 2, 1994, ISSN  0223-3711 , pp. 477-489.
  6. ↑ Hans Peter Kunert: L'infinitif dans l'occitan de Guardia Piemontese. In: Revue des langues romanes. Volume 101, No. 1, 1997, pp. 167-175.
  7. ↑ a b c Ilona Witten: Calabria. 2nd updated edition. DuMont, Cologne 2001, ISBN 3-7701-5288-3 , p. 58.
  8. ↑ This is irrelevant from a denominational point of view, since baptism is a generally Christian ritual.
  9. ^ Ilona Witten: Calabria. 2nd updated edition. DuMont, Cologne 2001, ISBN 3-7701-5288-3 , p. 58 f.
  10. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Ilona Witten: Calabria. 2nd updated edition. DuMont, Cologne 2001, ISBN 3-7701-5288-3 , p. 59.
  11. ↑ Anacleto Verrecchia : Giordano Bruno. La falena dello spirito. Editore Donzelli, Rome 2002, ISBN 88-7989-676-8 , p. 43.
  12. ^ A b Ilona Witten: Calabria. 2nd updated edition. DuMont, Cologne 2001, ISBN 3-7701-5288-3 , p. 61.
  13. ^ Ilona Witten: Calabria. 2nd updated edition. DuMont, Cologne 2001, ISBN 3-7701-5288-3 , p. 60 f.
  14. ^ Salvatore Spinelli 1 ° Marchese di Fuscaldo. In: fuscaldocity.it. Retrieved November 22, 2016 .