SOME NEWS
Mulazzo is the most famous town of book dealers in Italy: from Fogola to Lazzarelli, from Bertoni to Maucci, from Tarantola to Giovannacci, all families of Parana and Montereggio.
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A VIEW OF THE OLD TOWN CENTRE |
At Mulazzo you can find ruins of the castle and of the aqueduct of the Malaspina Family, ruins of the Byzantine Tower, mansions of marquises, one of which, currently, hosts the Centre of Studies dedicated to the navigator Alessandro Malaspina; down on the plain, it is possible to see the ancient Church of S.Martino.
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OUTSIDE THE CENTRE |
Groppoli
Groppoli offers the castle, the villa and the church, wanted by the Brignole Sale of Genoa on a project by Matteo Vinzoni. Castevoli and its mighty Malaspina old village. Lusuolo and Campoli where a stele statue stando guard outside the Oratory.
An absolute must is a visit to the church of the Madonna al Monte, with an incomparable view over Lunigiana and, on really clear days, over the sea.
Alessandro Malaspina Centre of Studies
The Centre, in a medieval tower of Mulazzo, contains materials and documents relevant to the Malaspina family of Mulazzo with particolar reference to the navigator Alessandro Malaspina (1754-1810). They tell the story of this famous man from Lunigiana.
He sailed around the world and made notable scientific discoveries.
Info: piazza Malaspina, 2 - Tel. 0187 439712
E-mail: csmalaspiniani@interfree.it
Montereggio
Montereggio is the town of book dealers, where many important families of Italian and European book dealers starter their business.
About one century ago they set off from this town with a pannier of their backs to sell books in Italy, Spain and France.
They were street traders who sold their wares on market stalls.
Some opened bookshops, other became editors and expanded their businesses to Latin America.
Today
Montereggio, "Town of the Book dealers" has become the "Town of the book" part of the European circuit of Book towns. The intention is to turn it into a centre dedicated to books and publishing
A must to visit is also the Church of Sant'Apollinare.
Castello Malaspina di Castevoli (XI sec.)
Founded in eleventh century by the Estensi Family, in 1195 it passed under the Marchesi Malaspina, who in 1306, played host to Dante Alighieri.
In
1416 ownership of the building was transferred to the Republic of Genoa, but returned to the Malaspina in 1465.
In
1561, it was transformed into an autonomous estate under the rule of Tommaso Malaspina.
In
1797, a revolt ended the rule of the Malaspina and the castle was abandoned for two century.
In 1990, the painter and sculptor Loris Nelson Ricci, with his Swiss wife Erika H. End, rebuilt the ancient Castle on its ruins.
After eight years of dedicated restoration, the Castle was opened in 1998. Inside you can see sculptures, paintings, designs and architectural projects.
The building is also an International Cultural Centre, dedicated to art students in particular.
Info: the building is privately owned.
For further information and visits: Mr. Ricci, tel. 0187 850490
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NATURE AND THE ROUTES |
Taking the provincial road 31 of the Magra Valley and driving towards Groppoli, roughly 8 km you will come to “Ghiaie”.
It is a river area in the district of
Groppoli (which was the estate of the Brignole-Sale from Genoa) along the banks of the River Magra, between the torrents Mangiola and Geriola, is of great environmental, as well as historical and cultural, interest. It is characterized by sturdy eighteenth-century embankments realized by Vinzoni to protect the cultivated land from flooding.
The embankments can still be seen today; the way the land was divided into farms in the seventeenth century is still evident.
The river landscape is also lush with vegetation. An artificial basin has been left to grow wild and been taken over by nature. Today it is the home of a variety of migratory and non-migratory birds
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FOOD AND WINE |
Famous is the chestnut of
Mulazzo, but there also other local dishes such as the torta d'erbi, the testaroli, oil, cheeses and honey. 
