Villafranca in Lunigiana
Villafranca in Lunigiana is a municipality with 4803 inhabitants ( 31 December 2012) in the province of Massa -Carrara in Tuscany region of Italy.
Geography
The municipality covers 29 km ². It is located about 150 km northwest of Florence, about 40 km northwest of Massa and 35 km northwest of Carrara in the Val di Magra. It is part of the ancient region of Lunigiana and is located on the Via Francigena. In the municipality the river Bagnone flows to the Magra.
The districts include Filetto, Fornoli, Irola, Malgrate Lunigiana, Merizzo, Mocrone and Virgoletta.
The neighboring municipalities are Bagnone, Filattiera, Licciana Nardi, Mulazzo, Tresana and Pontremoli.
History
First inhabitants of the area were the Ligurians and the Apuani. Since the Middle Ages it was a fief of the Malaspina family. 1221 shared the family in two lines over and Villafranca has dominion the line of Malaspina dello Spino Secco, emerged from the 1266 Malaspina di Villafranca. In addition to lying in Villafranca di Castello Malnido also were the castles of Tresana, Lusuolo and Castevoli possession of the family. After the occupation of Napoleon, the place of the county Modena was assigned and 1848 subordinated to the other towns of the county Magratals Parma. The Kingdom of Sardinia annexed the area in 1859, and Sardinia was the place with the Italian unification of the province of Tuscany. An independent municipality of Villafranca 1863.
Attractions
- Castello di Malnido, around the 11th century castle formed.
- Chiesa di San Niccolò, first mentioned in 1285.
- Museo della Lunigiana Ethnographic, Ethnological Museum, opened in 1977.
Sons and daughters of the town
- Flavio Baracchini (1895-1928), fighter pilot
- Alberto Silvani ( b. 1946 ), bishop of Volterra