Tellaro

Tellaro ( TEAEs in the Ligurian dialect) is an Italian village in the Ligurian province of La Spezia and is also a district ( Frazione ) in the municipality ( Comune ) of Lerici. Tellaro counts on the initiative of ANCI ( Associazione Nazionale Comuni Italiani ) officially the most beautiful villages in Italy (I più belli d' Italia borghi ).

Location

Tellaro is 3 km south of Lerici on the Gulf of La Spezia. From Tellaro you look across the Gulf to Porto Venere and the offshore islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto. The only access for vehicles is a close -built seaside road, leading from Lerici on Fiascherino to Tellaro. The village can be reached via steep footpaths also from the higher villages such as Monte Marcello.

Etymology

The name probably derives from Tellaro of tela (linen) for the trading of towels and tissues. Also conceivable is a reduction to telus (arrow), as used for the defense of an attachment. Also, an origin from the Etruscan or paläoligurischen tular ( at the edge of the village) seems possible. Tellaro but could also be of Greek origin, as the Latin name of Lerici, Portus Illycis, the fabled colonization of the area by Iliakos ( Trojans) implies. In any event likely to have been later actually colonized by Greek emigrants around.

History

Since the 7th century BC, the Gulf was dominated by the Etruscans, who founded the town of Luni a great commercial metropolis. The port of Lerici developed into an important trading center for Greek and Phoenician merchant ships and retained this role in Roman times with.

In the 10th century AD Berengar II confirmed the bishop of Luni Adalberto all Kirchenbesitzungen in this area, including Barbazzano, a Roman settlement that was reached in the Middle Ages through the production of olive oil to greater prosperity, but only of the ruins are still preserved today. Were accordingly frequent pirate attacks, especially by Saracens. In the 13th century, the area gets finally into the possession of Genoa after Pisa and Genoa had long struggled for decades for supremacy in the region.

The medieval settlement of Tellaro took place 1320-1380 and was probably in 1348 sponsored by the great plague epidemic, since parts of the population have left the city and settled Barbazzano probably here. 1398 was the Fort San Giorgio, after which the church was built later to be named, destroyed by a Sarazenenüberfall. On Christmas Eve of the year 1400, the entire village was razed to the ground with a renewed attack by the Saracens. The surviving inhabitants left the place then.

A new settlement was made again until 1564, where the houses were built with narrow streets on the site of the ancient fortification. In the second half of the 16th century, the St George church dedicated to San Giorgio was built. As a warning signal when pirate attacks was the tolling of the church bell. In this period also saw the construction of the Oratory of Santa Maria in Sela. The church with its characteristic pink color is directly surrounded by a square with houses by the sea.

Traditions

Among the most famous legends of the area is one of the unusual defense of a night attack by the Saracens pirates: The Pirates of Gallo D' Arenzano had just scheduled to land, when suddenly the bells began to ring. A large octopus ( Polpo ), which had risen from the sea is said to have triggered the alarm signal. The people heard the bells and repelled the pirates. This event is held every year on the second Sunday in August with a big festival, the Sagra del Polpo ( Octopus Festival) celebrated.

At Christmas, the birth of the Child Jesus is celebrated in an unusual way under water. Every year deposited to a group of divers the child's statue under water. On the night of Christmas Day 1, the Christ child is then recovered from the group of divers from the sea before a crowd of over 8,000 candles. The celebration concludes with a grand fireworks display.

Water sports from Tellaro take every year on the first Sunday in August at the Palio del Golfo in part, a rowing competition in the Gulf of La Spezia, in which the teams of La Spezia, Lerici, Porto Venere, San Terenzo, Le Grazie, Canaletto, Fezzano, Cadimare, Marola, Fossamastra, Muggiano and Venere Azzurra are represented. The Palio is part of the Festa del Mare, a boat show of the neighboring communities.

Known citizens

• Mario Soldati (1906-1999), writer, director and screenwriter.
• Paolo Caprini ( b. 1941 ), painter.