Molteno
Encyclopedia
Molteno is a comune
(municipality) and a hill-top town in the Province of Lecco
in the Italian
region Lombardy
, located about 35 km northeast of Milan
and about 11 km southwest of Lecco
. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,206 and an area of 3.2 km².
The Molteno castle, which commanded the area from this hill in Medieval times, no longer exists.
Molteno is also the meeting point of the two main rivers of the area, the Bevera
and the smaller Gandaloglio.
The municipality of Molteno contains the frazioni
(subdivisions, mainly villages) Gaesso, Molino, Luzzana, Raviola, Pascolo, and Coroldo.
Molteno borders the following municipalities: Annone di Brianza
, Bosisio Parini
, Costa Masnaga
, Garbagnate Monastero
, Oggiono
, Rogeno
, Sirone
.
settlement and numerous weapons, ceramics, tools, coins and even tombs have been found here from that period. Around the 6th century the first churches were built in the town.
Molteno's il Ceppo hill forms a natural fortress and medieval documents confirm that during the time of the Holy Roman Empire
, Molteno was a castle
, surrounded by fortifications that were later pulled down in peace time (although the Piazza di Castello still marks the spot). Emperor Barbarossa
of the Holy Roman Empire, in his long-running war against an alliance of powerful Italian city states
, led several enormous armies through this region in order to attack Milan
.
With the prosperity of the Renaissance, the republican city states
("Communi
") of Italy came to be increasingly dominated by powerful families ("Signorie
"). Molteno traditionally fell within the political orbit of Milan
and as such was controlled by families like the Della Torre
s, the Visconti
and the Sforza. Molteno's parent state was unique however, in that the Milanese Signoria
of the Visconti family
was recognized and controlled by a constitution.
Molteno, like the rest of the Brianza region, later saw the passing of numerous foreign administrations including the Spanish, the French and the Habsburgs before joining the insurrection that led to the unification of Italy.
The town centres around the Piazza Risorgimento, from which runs the street up to the Chiesa di San Giorgio
on the top of Ceppo hill. From the forecourt
and broad steps of the church it is possible to look southwards over a wide panorama of the countryside and of the hill country of the Brianza
.
The houses cluster in narrow, crooked streets around the slopes and the base of the hill. Another central feature of Molteno is Piazza Europa, which every Wednesday hosts the town market.
Local events include:
region, between the Como-Lecco and the Monza-Molteno lines.
The comune of Molteno is also crossed by the Strada statale 36 (SS36)
from Milan
to Passo dello Spluga on the Swiss-Italian border.
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
(municipality) and a hill-top town in the Province of Lecco
Province of Lecco
The Province of Lecco is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Lecco.On 1 January 2001 the province had a population of 311,452 on a surface of 816 km² divided in 90 communes...
in the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
region Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
, located about 35 km northeast of Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
and about 11 km southwest of Lecco
Lecco
Lecco is a town of c. 47,760 inhabitants in Lombardy, northern Italy, north of Milan, the capital of the province of Lecco. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como...
. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,206 and an area of 3.2 km².
Geography
The central feature of the area is the isolated hill, “Il Ceppo”, on the top of which is the church of San Giorgio (patron saint of the region). The slopes around it are still partly covered in vines and mulberry trees.The Molteno castle, which commanded the area from this hill in Medieval times, no longer exists.
Molteno is also the meeting point of the two main rivers of the area, the Bevera
Bévéra
The Bévéra or Bevera is a river of southeastern France and northwestern Italy. Its source is in the Maritime Alps, near Moulinet in the French Alpes-Maritimes department. It flows generally southeast, through Sospel, crosses the Italian border and discharges into the river Roya, near Ventimiglia...
and the smaller Gandaloglio.
The municipality of Molteno contains the frazioni
Frazione
A frazione , in Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a comune; for other administrative divisions, see municipio, circoscrizione, quartiere...
(subdivisions, mainly villages) Gaesso, Molino, Luzzana, Raviola, Pascolo, and Coroldo.
Molteno borders the following municipalities: Annone di Brianza
Annone di Brianza
Annone di Brianza is a comune in the Province of Lecco in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 40 km northeast of Milan and about 9 km southwest of Lecco...
, Bosisio Parini
Bosisio Parini
Bosisio Parini is a comune in the Province of Lecco in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 40 km north of Milan and about 11 km southwest of Lecco, on the shores of the Lake of Pusiano....
, Costa Masnaga
Costa Masnaga
Costa Masnaga is a comune in the Province of Lecco in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 35 km northeast of Milan and about 13 km southwest of Lecco....
, Garbagnate Monastero
Garbagnate Monastero
Garbagnate Monastero is a comune in the Province of Lecco in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 35 km northeast of Milan and about 12 km southwest of Lecco....
, Oggiono
Oggiono
Oggiono is a comune in the Province of Lecco in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 40 km northeast of Milan and about 8 km southwest of Lecco....
, Rogeno
Rogeno
Rogeno is a comune in the Province of Lecco in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 35 km north of Milan and about 13 km southwest of Lecco...
, Sirone
Sirone
Sirone is a comune in the Province of Lecco in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 35 km northeast of Milan and about 11 km southwest of Lecco...
.
History
Molteno was a RomanAncient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
settlement and numerous weapons, ceramics, tools, coins and even tombs have been found here from that period. Around the 6th century the first churches were built in the town.
Molteno's il Ceppo hill forms a natural fortress and medieval documents confirm that during the time of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
, Molteno was a castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
, surrounded by fortifications that were later pulled down in peace time (although the Piazza di Castello still marks the spot). Emperor Barbarossa
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick I Barbarossa was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1155, and finally crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, on 18 June 1155, and two years later in 1157 the term...
of the Holy Roman Empire, in his long-running war against an alliance of powerful Italian city states
Lombard League
The Lombard League was an alliance formed around 1167, which at its apex included most of the cities of northern Italy , including, among others, Crema, Cremona, Mantua, Piacenza, Bergamo, Brescia, Milan, Genoa, Bologna, Padua, Modena, Reggio Emilia, Treviso, Venice, Vercelli, Vicenza, Verona,...
, led several enormous armies through this region in order to attack Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
.
With the prosperity of the Renaissance, the republican city states
Italian city-states
The Italian city-states were a political phenomenon of small independent states mostly in the central and northern Italian peninsula between the 10th and 15th centuries....
("Communi
Medieval commune
Medieval communes in the European Middle Ages had sworn allegiances of mutual defense among the citizens of a town or city. They took many forms, and varied widely in organization and makeup. Communes are first recorded in the late 11th and early 12th centuries, thereafter becoming a widespread...
") of Italy came to be increasingly dominated by powerful families ("Signorie
Signoria
A Signoria was an abstract noun meaning 'government; governing authority; de facto sovereignty; lordship in many of the Italian city states during the medieval and renaissance periods....
"). Molteno traditionally fell within the political orbit of Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
and as such was controlled by families like the Della Torre
Della Torre
The Della Torre were an Italian noble family who rose to prominence in Lombardy during the 12th-14th centuries, until they held the seigniory of Milan before being ousted by the Visconti....
s, the Visconti
House of Visconti
Visconti is the family name of two important Italian noble dynasties of the Middle Ages. There are two distinct Visconti families: The first one in the Republic of Pisa in the mid twelfth century who achieved prominence first in Pisa, then in Sardinia where they became rulers of Gallura...
and the Sforza. Molteno's parent state was unique however, in that the Milanese Signoria
Signoria
A Signoria was an abstract noun meaning 'government; governing authority; de facto sovereignty; lordship in many of the Italian city states during the medieval and renaissance periods....
of the Visconti family
House of Visconti
Visconti is the family name of two important Italian noble dynasties of the Middle Ages. There are two distinct Visconti families: The first one in the Republic of Pisa in the mid twelfth century who achieved prominence first in Pisa, then in Sardinia where they became rulers of Gallura...
was recognized and controlled by a constitution.
Molteno, like the rest of the Brianza region, later saw the passing of numerous foreign administrations including the Spanish, the French and the Habsburgs before joining the insurrection that led to the unification of Italy.
Culture and Places of Interest
The town hall of Molteno is situated within the park of Villa Rosa.The town centres around the Piazza Risorgimento, from which runs the street up to the Chiesa di San Giorgio
San Giorgio
San Giorgio, is the Italian form of Saint George. When used as the name of a person it is frequently contracted to Sangiorgio.-Places:Many town and villages are named after the saint, including the following comuni, or ‘municipalities’:...
on the top of Ceppo hill. From the forecourt
Forecourt
In architecture a forecourt is an open area in front of a structure's entrance.In archaeology, forecourt is the name given to the area in front of certain types of chamber tomb...
and broad steps of the church it is possible to look southwards over a wide panorama of the countryside and of the hill country of the Brianza
Brianza
thumb|250px|The [[Corni di Canzo]].Brianza is a geographical area at the foot of the Alps, in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy.-Geography:...
.
The houses cluster in narrow, crooked streets around the slopes and the base of the hill. Another central feature of Molteno is Piazza Europa, which every Wednesday hosts the town market.
Local events include:
- San Rocco – Festival of the town’s patron saintPatron saintA patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
, 23 April
- “Un’avventura, le Emozioni” festival – annual festival held in September in tribute to the famous Italian singer/song-writer Lucio BattistiLucio BattistiLucio Battisti was an Italian singer-songwriter . He is considered to be one of the best-known and most influential musicians and authors in Italian pop/rock music history....
, who lived in Molteno (1943-1998) and is buried nearby.
Transport
The historic Molteno railway station (1888) is now an important centre of interchange in the BrianzaBrianza
thumb|250px|The [[Corni di Canzo]].Brianza is a geographical area at the foot of the Alps, in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy.-Geography:...
region, between the Como-Lecco and the Monza-Molteno lines.
The comune of Molteno is also crossed by the Strada statale 36 (SS36)
SS36
The Italian highway 36, Lake Como and Spluga is a major road in Lombardia. Constitutes the main access route to the Valtellina and the Swiss canton of Grisons from Milan and other cities in southern Lombardia.-The Path:...
from Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
to Passo dello Spluga on the Swiss-Italian border.