Castelnuovo Bocca d'Adda
Castelnuovo Bocca d'Adda: History and Geography
Hello friends, today I want to talk to you about Castelnuovo Bocca d'Adda, a small municipality of 1538 inhabitants located in the province of Lodi in Lombardy. The village is located in the low area of the province, near the confluence of the Adda river into the Po, in an area called Brevia. To reach the provincial capital, Lodi, you have to travel about forty kilometers.
The inhabited center is surrounded by rural areas and bordered by the two rivers and various canals. Among freshwater fishermen, Castelnuovo is known for fishing barbel that populate the lower stretch of the Adda. In addition, the village houses the last barrier on the river, which determines a very rich fishing area.
The History of Castelnuovo Bocca d'Adda
Castelnuovo Bocca d'Adda was initially populated by the Celtic population of the "Insubrian Gauls", to then be fortified by the Romans in 223 BC, as narrated by Polybius in his "Histories". In the Middle Ages, Castelnuovo was contested as a Municipality due to its intermediate position between Piacenza and Cremona.
In the sixteenth century, while being part of the diocese of Lodi, it was included in the county of Cremona, possibly conquered militarily by the city for its river position. After various events, the village became a fief first of the Fieschi in 1477 and then of the Stanga in the sixteenth century. In 1786, with the division of Austrian Lombardy into provinces, Castelnuovo returned to the province of Lodi and since then it has followed the fortunes of the Lodi territory.
During the Napoleonic era, in 1809, the localities of Bonissima, Maccastorna, Mezzanino and Meleti were also aggregated to the municipality of Castelnuovo Bocca d'Adda. The latter then acquired autonomy with the constitution of the Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom in 1816.
The ancient name of the village derives from the castle, once existing, and its position at the confluence of the Adda into the Po. A historian from Castelnuovo, Gianantonio Pisati, discovered that the toponym "Castelnuovo" first appeared in a parchment of 1133. This document is kept at the archive of the church of S. Agata in Cremona and indicates that the whole village was part of the domains of the monastery of the Holy Resurrection and SS. Fabian, Sixtus and Bartholomew of Piacenza since AD 879.
The Monuments of Castelnuovo Bocca d'Adda
Among the monuments and places of interest in Castelnuovo Bocca d'Adda, the Visconti castle, already attested in the twelfth century, stands out. In 1188, the castle was destroyed and burned by the Parmesans, but it was immediately rebuilt and enlarged in 1226 by the Municipality of Cremona. Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it underwent various modifications and became a private residence.
Conclusions
Here friends, this is the history of Castelnuovo Bocca d'Adda, a Lombard village rich in history and charm that I invite you to discover. If you have the opportunity, do not miss the chance to visit the Visconti castle and to fish along the banks of the Adda. There is much to discover in this corner of Lombardy, between nature and culture, and Castelnuovo Bocca d'Adda is one of the hidden gems.
