Lavagna: from slate to EVO
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| Sunset in Lavagna (Genoa) |
Lavagna always brings me back to my youth, the days of my military service when I used to stroll around its carruggi, a tempting sesame of focaccia, friscêu, brioches for a 20-year-old man...
The history of the area, even before Romanization, was tightly linked to the Etruscans, as witnessed by the necropolis discovered by Nino Lamboglia. The Romans fostered agriculture in the area, the first century AD also saw the appearance of vineyards. Lastly, Lavania benefited from the influence of the monks from Bobbio.
After the Carolingians, the town came under the influence of the Fieschi, and therefore in perennial conflict with the Doria. Furthermore, when the disputes came to an end (1547), it also suffered the raids of the ill-famed Dragut, which led to new fortification, including the Tower of the village (Torre Ravenna), now a museum.
Lavagna, in the heart of the Riviera di Levante, is today the capital of slate and a significant historical centre "a sestieri" (districts which houses the basilica collegiata di Santo Stefano with its Brignardello portico, Palazzo Franzoni (Town Hall), the “Casa Museo Carbone” (managed by FAI), and the famous, playful historical Fieschi parade, a 14th August classic since 1949.
From the hilltops - the reign of olive groves – steep tracks descend: this is where in the past heroic women used to tread, slabs of slate over their heads, towards the leudi (i.e., boats), sometimes laying all that weight, to rest, in niches carved out along the rocky sides of the path. Dry-stone walls treasure the warmth of the sun, that is why Liguria boasts such excellent preböggiön (i.e. wild herbs mix)...
The small-town features numerous food festivals, a succession of focacce with sage, aubergines, fritters, dried fruit.... Yet, most of local cuisine is obviously based on anchovies, buridde, ciuppin, stuffed squids... Gourmets can also enjoy pansoti, testaroli, pesto, castagnacci...
Last but not least, thanks to its microclimate, Lavagna boasts among the "ancient vegetables of Tigullio" also two renowned cabbage cultivars -broccolo and gaggetta (i.e. cage), the protagonists of fairs and showcooking.
My English abstract of the article by Umberto Curti as published on Liguria Food
Luisa Puppo
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