Dego
Dego: a Municipality in Liguria
Hello everyone! Today we are talking about Dego, an Italian municipality located in Liguria, in the province of Savona. The town has around 1854 inhabitants and is nestled in the Ligurian Apennines, at the confluence of the Grillero stream and the Bormida di Spigno river. The hilly area of Dego has been declared a provincial protected area due to the numerous beech forests present, as well as the presence of oak and chestnut trees.
Origins of the Name
The name Dego has generated numerous conjectures regarding its etymology. According to some scholars, the name derives from the German "Der Got" (meaning "The God") or from the Latin "degere" (meaning "to stay"). In relation to the latter, the Roman leader Tullio Cipriano allegedly uttered a phrase upon seeing the castle and the valley, which was "degere". Scholar Bruno Chiarlone proposes two other hypotheses regarding the origins of the name. The first hypothesis suggests that the term "Dego" derives from the Celtic word "Dek", meaning "the best", referring to the position of Dego's mountainous hill, which is protected on three sides by watercourses. The second hypothesis, instead, believes that the name has an Indo-European root dating back to 2000 BC, when ancient Indian peoples spread their language and culture in Europe. The word "Deigh" derives from Indo-European and means "to shape". However, the most credible etymology appears to be that proposed by Meyer Lübke's Romanisches Etimologisches Wörterbuch, which finds the origin of the term "Dego" in the Old Provençal "dec", meaning "border". The latter term derives from the Latin word "decus", meaning "a cross shape" symbolized by the Roman numeral ten, a cross itself that denoted the X inscribed on inhabited boundaries.
History
Dego could be of Roman Empire origin and would be located along the Via Aemilia Scauri that connected Aquae Statiellae to Vada Sabatia (now Acqui Terme and Vado Ligure, respectively). The name of the town could derive from the position of this place, which was on the "decussius", a triple confining convergence point among the municipia of Aquae Statiellae, Alba Pompeia (Alba), and Vada Sabatia. In the Middle Ages, Dego became the seat of the southernmost pieve of the diocese of Acqui: the pievano building, dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta, still exists and preserves Romanesque parts of medieval origin.
Conclusions
In summary, the Italian town of Dego in Liguria is a suggestive location to discuss, for the etymology of the name, its geographical position, and its history. Now, when you visit Dego, you can smile with a certain pride, knowing the origin of its name and its strategic position along the Via Aemilia Scauri. If you come to visit me, we could take a walk through the protected areas and along the medieval streets of this splendid Italian municipality!
