Luserna San Giovanni
Luserna San Giovanni: a brief introduction
Hello everyone! Today we will talk about Luserna San Giovanni, a municipality located in the metropolitan city of Turin in Piedmont. We are in the Val Pellice, in an area that is sometimes called Val di Luserna. This municipality is part of the Pinerolo Mountains Union and has a population of approximately 7,394 inhabitants. I have divided this summary into sections to give you a fuller understanding of the history and physical geography of the area.
Physical Geography
The climate of Luserna San Giovanni is relatively humid and mild, and during the summer months, the area takes on typical pre-Alpine characteristics. In winter, however, the climate becomes typically Mediterranean.
History
Luserna
The history of the Luserna San Giovanni territory begins with the settlement of Taurini-Celtoliguri from Transalpine Gaul, in the 10th century BC. Subsequently, the ancient Romans Cozie Alps (Roman province) of the 2nd century BC established a small agricultural-rural settlement, the ''Airali''. This name indicates a "courtyard where wheat was threshed" (from Latin ''ajra'' or ''aia''). After the barbarian invasions and the subsequent settlements of the Lombards, the territory, part of ancient Western Occitania, was invaded by Saracen armies until the advent of the Carolingian fiefs.
The toponym "Luserna" probably derives from the name of the nearby town, Torre Pellice, which was equipped with a luminous tower. However, another hypothesis would derive the name from "losa", in Piedmontese, and also "lausa" or "lauza" in ancient Occitan language, the name given to the well-known smooth and flat stone widely extracted from the mountains in this area.
Luserna San Giovanni was a feudal territory, directed to the noble lords of the "Luserna" lineage, mainly composed of the branches Gosvino-"Bigliatore" and "Rorengo", both families subject to the Savoy County of the XI century. These lords built a fortified castle in this area. In a document from 1096, the place was called "Castrum quod vocatur Lucerna". Later, the Manfredi co-lords joined the Luserna lineage.
San Giovanni
The name "San Giovanni" derives from the adjacent locality, to the left of the Pellice stream. This area in the 11th century was a "pieve" (parish) of some canons of the Augustinian Order, who arrived from Sommariva Perno, very devoted to St. John the Evangelist. Subsequently, in the 12th century, the Waldensians, a Calvinist Protestant religious movement, spread their creed in this area, definitively sanctioned in the Cavour Peace Treaty of 1561. Catholicism returned to San Giovanni after the suppression of the Waldensians a century later, with the Piemonte Easter of 1655.
The Waldensians were then isolated as a separate community, in the autonomous Municipality called "San Giovanni Pellice", which remained detached from the center of Luserna (the "Airali") from 1657 to 1872, the year of re-merger of the two Municipalities, annexing other fractions of "Luserna Alta" (otherwise called "San Giacomo", like "Ricoun", "Boer", "Jallà", "Malan", and "Saret").
Conclusion
Luserna San Giovanni is a municipality with a very interesting history. The area developed thanks to agriculture and the exploitation of local natural resources such as smooth and flat stones, which were extracted from the surrounding mountains. The area has been the scene of Celtic-Ligurian settlements and Roman conquests, and then disrupted by barbarian invasions, subsequent Lombard settlements, and Saracen invasions. The territory has also been influenced by the Waldensians, a Calvinist Protestant religious movement that had a significant influence on the area in the 17th century. Thanks to the suppression of the Waldensians, Catholicism returned to the area, and the community of San Giovanni Pellice was later reunited with that of Luserna San Giovanni in 1872.
