At Home with Marchese Malaspina · Part 1 of 4

Bobbio – history and discoveries in the Trebbia valley

Before we arrived in Bobbio, Currado Malaspina had already given us a map in words: the bridge, the abbey, the square by the cathedral and a walk along the river. We had written to a wine producer. We were given a town walk.

Narrow street between yellow and beige stone houses in Bobbio, with a stone house and wooded mountains in the background — A street in Bobbio's old town.

Ponte Gobbo, the abbey of San Colombano, Piazza Duomo and a walk along the river. That was Currado Malaspina's list in his messages before the trip. We had got in touch to visit a wine producer, and the first thing he suggested was, in other words, not the wine. He wanted us to see Bobbio before we sat down at his table.

It turned out to be a wise order. In this part of Italy a wine producer's story often begins long before the first glass, and sometimes long before wine at all.

A town in the Trebbia valley

Bobbio lies in the Trebbia valley in the province of Piacenza, in western Emilia-Romagna. The river Trebbia winds through hilly country down towards the Po plain, and the town grew where the valley left room for houses, squares and church towers. The mountains decided where the town could be. People decided the rest.

The river Trebbia with clear water and wide stone banks, surrounded by green slopes — The river Trebbia at Bobbio.

Pedestrian street with stone houses, flower pots and café chairs in sunshine — A pedestrian street in the town centre.

The medieval town shows in the narrow streets, in the stone houses and in how closely churches and palaces stand together. Bobbio is small, and that is its great advantage. The square, the abbey and the river are within walking distance, and the walk between them is half the point. The other half is that you have time to stop.

Narrow house in natural stone and brick with flowers on the balconies, by a small square — Natural stone, brick and flowers on the balconies.

Narrow cobbled alley between stone walls leading under a vaulted house — An alley leading in under an arch.

The abbey of San Colombano and the manuscripts

The town's history begins in the abbey. In 614 the Irish monk Columbanus founded a monastery in Bobbio, with the support of the Lombard king. Columbanus died the following year. The abbey outlived him by a wide margin and became one of Europe's important centres of learning in the Middle Ages – not bad for a place you now reach by winding valley roads.

Long stone building with arches facing a lawn, a bell tower and mountains in the background — The abbey complex of San Colombano with its bell tower.

Church façade in natural stone with a rose window, three small spires and an arcade facing a cobbled square — The church of San Colombano with its arcade.

The nave with fluted pillars, painted vaults and rows of chairs leading to the choir — The nave with its painted vaults.

In the abbey's scriptorium both Christian and classical texts were copied, and the library became known far beyond the valley. Many of the manuscripts that once belonged here are now in libraries elsewhere in Italy and Europe. Books tend to travel more than the people who wrote them.

Vaulted room beneath the church with stone pillars and a mosaic floor with figures and patterns — The mosaic floor in one of the rooms beneath the church.

Preserving the written word returns in the next part, but in a different house: the Malaspina family's own archive and library in Palazzo Malaspina. The abbey's collections and the family archive are two separate things, each with its own history.

Ponte Gobbo and the legend of the Devil's Bridge

Bobbio's best-known view is the bridge over the Trebbia. Ponte Gobbo, or Ponte Vecchio, crosses the river in a long row of arches of different sizes, and the roadway faithfully follows them up and down. Gobbo means hunchbacked. It is one of the few place names that does not exaggerate.

Ponte Gobbo with its uneven stone arches over the Trebbia, with Bobbio and the mountain behind — Ponte Gobbo over the Trebbia.

The roadway on Ponte Gobbo between two pointed stone piers, with church towers and mountains in the distance — On the bridge, looking towards the town.

Stone piers and arches under Ponte Gobbo, partly covered in netting, by clear blue-green water — Under the arches, by the water.

Five people standing together on Ponte Gobbo with the river valley behind them — Our group on the bridge.

The bridge is also called the Devil's Bridge. According to a local legend, the devil built it in a single night, in exchange for the soul of the first to cross. Columbanus sent a dog across first. It is a legend, not history, but it says something about the town: here the abbey even had the last word in negotiations with the devil.

A town to give time

The cathedral of Bobbio with two stone bell towers and a brick façade with a rose window, by a square — The cathedral on Piazza Duomo.

Currado's list was in practice a suggestion for how to travel here: from the square by the cathedral to the abbey, on down to the river and the bridge. And then in through the gate of a palace where a family has kept its papers for centuries.

That is where the next part goes.