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Varzi.
IL BORGO ANTICO:
Centre of the
Staffora Valley and a medieval
town originally surrounded by a wall
of
which only two
gates are left standing,
Sottana
and Soprana,
with two towers
built on top of them.
The narrow
streets with their porticoes cross
the town as far as Malaspina castle.
You can visit the Romanesque
Capuchin church in the lower part of
Varzi, with its facade decorated by
alternating bands of sandstone and
brickwork.
The town had an important role
in trade, particularly
for salt.
Until the 13'h century, Varzi, in the
heart of the Staffora valley, was an
important place of trade and passage
along the Apennine backbone. Today it is
the most important centre in the
mountainous part of Oltrepò. The history
of this area is directly linked to that
of the Malaspinas, a prominent family
who controlled the profitable salt trade
that originated in Liguria and passed
directly through this town to the Milan
area. The oldest part of this small town
dates from the Middle Ages and was, at
one stage, surrounded by three
protective walls; here are the two
entrances -
Soprano
(upper) and
Sottana
(lower) with towers
rising above; Castle Malaspina Odetti
with its 18'h-century facade featuring a
sundial; narrow streets and small
squares overlooked by old houses with
ground floor porticoes; the church of
the Capuchin friars with a late
Romanesque appearance erected in the
14'h century and a facade that is brick
at the top and presents bands of clear
and dark sandstone at the bottom; the
typical characteristic Majolica and
Mecato districts beneath which are
hidden the cool cellars where the fine
Varzi salami are aged.
LA
TORRE DI PORTA SOPRANA (o dell'orologio):
LA
TORRE MALASPINA: Torre delle Streghe.
LA CHIESA DEI
CAPPUCCINI: 
Fortunago
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Zavattarello.
l
Sant'Alberto di Butrio
Sant'Alberto di Butrio, a medieval
monastery standing on its own near
Ponte Nizza, was founded in the XI
century. The hermitage, fortified by a
wall around it with a great quadrangular
tower being all that is left standing of
this wall, consists of three churches
from different periods:
Sant' Antonio, the first to welcome the
worshipper, with late 15' century
paintings in the people's style; Santa
Maria, the most ancient and Sant'Alberto,
going back to the XII century, which
conserves an interesting cycle of
frescoes (Our Lady with Child amongst
the saints, The miracle of Saint Albert
at
the pope),
also portraying the person who
commissioned it, Bertramino Malaspina.
A memorial tablet in the small and
beautiful cloister marks the legend
of the burial of King Edward II of
England, who reached Sant'Alberto di
Butrio to escape a plot against him.
Torricella Verzate
Santa Margherita Staffora
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