Morfasso
Welcome to Morfasso!
Hello everyone! Today I will talk to you about Morfasso, a town of 878 inhabitants located in the province of Piacenza, in Emilia-Romagna. Morfasso is a small village surrounded by mountains and immersed in nature. Are you ready to learn more about its history and physical geography? Then follow my journey to discover Morfasso!
Physical geography
The town of Morfasso is located in the high val d'Arda, surrounded by mountains. The magic of Morfasso is the panoramic view of the mountain. This enchanting place is surrounded by the mountains Carameto, Lama, Menegosa, Santa Franca and Croce dei Segni. In addition, a part of the municipal territory is included in the provincial park Monte Moria, which extends for three quarters of Castagno, Genisteae, Beech, Carpinus betulus, Corylus avellana and Abies alba. The park also became famous for being the filming location of the TV series La freccia nera.
In the northern part of the municipal territory, on the border with the municipality of Vernasca, there is the artificial lake of Mignano, which offers a unique and suggestive landscape. The lake was born with the construction of the homonymous dam between 1919 and 1934.
History
Morfasso has an ancient history dating back to prehistory. In fact, stone industries dating back to about 35,000 years ago have been found in the area of Mount Lama. Before the Romans conquered the area, it was populated by the Ligurian tribes, with the presence of numerous villages protected by defensive fortifications, called castellieri.
After about 80 years of conflicts to subdue the Ligurians, the Romans settled in the area, placed under the dependence of the city of Veleia. According to some interpretations, the toponym Morfasso derives from the Latin language ''moram facere'', translatable as to stop in Italian, with possible reference to a military camp that arose during the Roman conquest of the high val d'Arda. Other sources, instead, attribute Lombard origins to the name Morfasso.
In the 7th century, the monastery of SS. Salvatore and Gallo di Val Tolla was founded by the Lombards, which in the following centuries will occupy a central role from an administrative and political point of view for the entire high val d'Arda. In the 10th century, numerous castles were built like Morfasso and Sperongia, placed under the dependence of the monastery, with the function of defending religious authority from the attacks of powerful local lords. The administrative seat became the castle of Sperongia, which was granted to the monastery of Val Tolla by the Lombard king Berengario I and then transferred to various families of the territory.
Conclusions
And so our journey to discover Morfasso ends here. Morfasso is an enchanting village, immersed in nature and with a millennia-old history behind it. If you love mountains and nature, this is the right place for you. Come and discover Morfasso: a small treasure of the province of Piacenza!
