These
are a few informations about Gavi, peeked up from voluminous
historical books, just to give a modest idea of Gavi's geographic
an historical setting. So these has not to be considered as an
exhaustive text regarding the history of Gavi on its whole.
Gavi is placed
in the Lemme's valley, altitude mt. 233, the Castle or Fortress of Gavi mt
382 at its height. This gay and pleasant town is in sharp contrast to
the dark fortress which dominates it, this imposing three-storied
fortification crowns the top a high hill (Monte Moro). Today Gavi has a population of
5,000 inhabitants, but even at the
beginning of the century it had more than 8,000.
The small town of Gavi is more than thousand years old; each of the
big events that have involved Piedmont, Liguria, and Lombardy,
necessarily are transited for these lanes and it has contributed in
different measures to forge and modify the physiognomy of this suburb of
boundary.
The Lemme valley, named after the river that flows through it and Gavi,
that starts off as source from the "Bocchetta", old pass of
the Apennines between Liguria and Piedmont, for thousand of years
had been one of the most important routes in the north-west of Italy for
the warriors and the merchants alike who used to come and go from the
sea of Genoa to the continental lands. These strategic
passage is steel called "Via del Sale" (Street to Salt),
so denominated because of this precious ingredient supplied the
neighbouring
regions.
A footstep far from Gavi, 4 miles, on the Postumian Way, there is
Libarna (constructed in 180 BC, between Genoa and Tortona).During the
first centuries AD, Gavi was Libarna's satellite town in the Lemme valley, while Libarna itself was the focal point and the catalyst of all
the activities within a radius of about 15 miles. Like many other Roman
centres in this area (also noted for its archaeological finds is Villa
del Foro), the exact location of Libarna was lost until its rediscovery
in 1817. The first excavations tentative were begun in the first decade
of this century. But it was the great determination with which
archaeologist began digging between 1963 and 1976 that allowed what has
been defined as a "magnificent archaeological park" to be
brought to light.
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Today
is possible to visit the ancient Roman ruins of Libarna
with relative "Casa del Dazio" (Custom-House), the articulated
structure of the theatre with the corridors, stairs, foyers,
and auditorium which could old 3,800 spectators. The
uncovering of the arena of the amphitheatre has shown in to have
been larger than that in Aosta. To whole residential areas can be seen,
all part of an archaeological complex that allows us to understand
something more of the building of a Roman town. ( Photo of Libarna's
amphitheatre, a little jewel of archaeology.)
Gavi, after the decline of the Roman Empire and Libarna itself, had
become the most important place between Genoa and Tortona, that is to
say between an autonomous maritime city and an episcopal dependence. By
the Dark Ages, Gavi and the Lemme valley were the great favourites.
Before the year 1000, as evidenced in parchments and manuscripts to be
found in the archives, those places which had a castle to defend the
principal roads are those mentioned most frequently.
The first mentions of the Lemme valley in written and documented history
is to be found in the bronze Table of the Polcevera valley, dated at 117
BC. Mention is made
of the Cavaturini tribe, who inhabited the area from the Lemor (Lemme)
valley and the surrounding mountains. The Cavaturini were so called
because they lived in caves or grottos. It is possible that the name
Gavi (Gavium in Latin) originally derived from Cavatum, which by losing
its "t" became Cavaum-Cavium-Gavium, right down to the
mediaeval "Gavio". Since Gavi however, exist before the
arrival of the Romans, it is perhaps more logical to trace the origin of
the name back to a Ligurian etymon, that is "Ga"(land)
"Va"(
hole, meander
),"land of holes", or place of
caverns, obviously used by human settlers. It is probable that the
Cavaturini were those from "Gava". Because having always been
the chief town of the valley, Gavi would naturally have given its name
to the whole tribe.
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But as regard of the origin of the name Gavi, there is even a legend
which narrates how, in the VI century, a rich blond princess from
Provence called Gavia or Gavina, fleeing with her lover, whom her family
refused to accept, decided to settle down here and constructed a castle
on a hilltop ; other soon built their houses at the food of this hill.
At that time, however, Gavi already existed. It was a roman "pagus"
and fortified town whose job was to protect the link-road: the Postumian
Way and the Emilian Way.
A
document dated 18 April 973 was drawn up, now to be found in the State
Archive in Siena stating that the castle of Gavi was sold to Roprando by
Marquis Lamberto son of Ildebrando, while in another document, dated 989
DA, it is said that the castle was bought back by Emergarda, Lamberto's
widow.
We find ourselves faced with Nordic characters (their very names confirm
the fact) who made up the entourage of the three Emperors Ottone, who
ruled during the tenth century. In fact, Gavi and the castle later
belonged to Adalberto and to Alberto, of Obertenga descent. This latter
marquis and his soon Guido, or Guidone, were those who, in the second
half of the XI century, laid the foundations of the Marquisate of Gavi.
A military-political nucleus of this type grew up in the strategic
points where castles were in a dominant position such to enable them to
exact a tribute or, at the very least, levies and tolls from those using
the highways, which were none other than the remains of those build by
the Romans and partially repaired in order to justify the toll. The
Marquisate of Gavi extended from Voltaggio to Amelio (Sottovalle)
to Montaldo (nowadays, called Rigoroso, near Arquata, where the
Postumian Way descends into the Scrivia valley), all places with castles.
The Marquisate possessed estates around Tortona at Montemarzino, Nizzano
and Avolasca; beyond the Scrivia at Grondona and Croce (later to be
owned by Fieschi Family); toward Novi it included Tassarolo, Pasturana,
Gattorba and Giugnano, all fortified sites. This territory, a buffer
zone between Genoa and Tortona, survived right up until 1202, when, with
the Empire's consent, the heirs of Marquis Alberto son of Guido ceded it
to Genoa. Gavi, obviously, had always sided with the Empire when Italy
was divided at the time of Barbarossa and Henry VI.
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