Alluvioni Cambiò
Alluvioni Cambiò: a brief journey through the geography and history of a small Piedmontese town
Alluvioni Cambiò was a small town located in the Tortonese region of Piedmont with a population of about 915 inhabitants. The town merged with Piovera to form the new municipality of Alluvioni Piovera on January 1st, 2018. In this article, we will get to know this small town better, which boasts a unique geographical position.
Physical Geography
Alluvioni Cambiò was located in the middle of the Po Valley, 15 km northeast of Alessandria, near the confluence of the Tanaro and the Po rivers, which in this stretch marks the border with Lomellina. The proximity of three watercourses has caused numerous floods over the decades, making life for its inhabitants very difficult. The town was crossed by the 45th parallel, the equidistant line between the North Pole and the Equator, making it unique in its kind.
History
The Po has always been a determining factor in the history of the area, subject to frequent floods from the river that once flowed further south than its current course. Cambiò was in fact part of Lomellina, a Pavia territory from 1164, built on the ancient village of Sparvara, gradually abandoned since the Middle Ages, coinciding with the construction of the nearby Borgo Franco and submerged by several floods between the 15th and 18th centuries, and later part of the municipality of Cambiò and Sparvara.
In the 19th century, Cambiò was partially destroyed by the Po, forcing the town to move further north; the town was then renamed Cambiò Nuovo, and in 1867 the municipality was abolished and merged with Gambarana in the new province of Pavia, currently Lombardy.
In the area of the municipality of Cambiò that had remained south of the Po over time, it was detached and constituted a fraction of the municipality of Bassignana in 1800. The fraction was then erected into a separate municipality, with the name of Alluvioni Cambiò, in 1819.
Floods are recurring in the history of the village and have often razed entire settlements to the ground, so the town does not have very ancient monuments. Of some relevance is the church of San Carlo, dating back to 1850.
In the fall of 2017, a referendum was held to decide on the merger with the neighboring municipality of Piovera. After the positive outcome, the two municipalities merged into the new municipality of Alluvioni Piovera on January 1st, 2018.
Symbols
The municipality of Alluvioni Cambiò had adopted a coat of arms "azure, a golden ship wheel". The shield was topped (heraldry) with a helmet (heraldry) in the shield crest to indicate that it was once a fortified village; the azure of the field and the helm alluded to the ancient river port of Sparvara.
Society
The population of Alluvioni Cambiò was about 915 inhabitants, who mainly lived off agriculture and some craft activities. The town was characterized by a strong community cohesion, thanks to the proximity between residents, the sharing of the difficult situation related to floods, and the strong ties with the territory.
Economy
The abundance of water is also a determining factor for the irrigation of fields and numerous vegetable gardens in the area, which specialize in the production of onions, peppers, Pisum sativum, spinach, zucchini, and celery. In the area, as throughout the Po Valley, the cultivation of cereals and fodder is widespread. Being a small town, industry was not very present, but three wood processing factories and one plastics factory were still active.
In conclusion, Alluvioni Cambiò was a small town that left its mark thanks to its unique geographical position among the three watercourses and its history characterized by difficulties related to floods. Nevertheless, the residents maintained a strong social cohesion and a great attention to the territory, demonstrating the strong bond between people and land.
