Piuro
Welcome to Piuro, the scattered municipality in the province of Sondrio
Hello everyone! Today I will talk to you about Piuro, a scattered municipality in Lombardy, located in north-west Sondrio. Piuro has 1881 inhabitants and was founded in the 9th century. The name derives from Latin "plorare", which means to cry, in memory of an ancient catastrophe that destroyed the ancient village of Belforte.
The physical geography of Piuro
The municipal territory of Piuro extends over two different valleys. To the south, in Val Bregaglia between the municipalities of Chiavenna and Villa di Chiavenna. To the north, the Val di Lei belongs almost entirely to the territory of Piuro. Customary property rights for agro-silvo-pastoral assets are vested in it. Since 1961, a large part of the valley has been occupied by a dam of the Valle di Lei. Additionally, Piuro is one of the few Italian municipalities that extends beyond the Alpine watershed with the Reno di Lei. On the southern side, in addition to the Mera, the main watercourse, there are several streams, the most famous of which is the Acquafraggia.
The history of Piuro
According to the narrative of Guler Von Wyneck, the first inhabited nucleus in the Piuro area was Belforte. The rebuilt village of Piuro is first mentioned by the name "Prore" in 973. It later appears with the toponym of "Plurium". In the 12th century, Piuro separated from Chiavenna, becoming an autonomous municipality with its own Podestà (Middle Ages). Piuro's merchants were known throughout Europe, especially for the trade in silk. Additionally, Piuro enjoyed a strategic position that placed it at the center of the commercial traffic that brought goods from Italy to all of Europe, collecting customs duties on goods in transit, towards the Settimo Pass (today in the Swiss Grisons) and towards Lake Como.
The artistic attestations of Piuro
Most of the wealth earned from commerce was reinvested in culture and art. Unfortunately, due to the landslide of 1618, few testimonies survive, including the Palazzo Vertemate-Franchi, which owes its name to the Vertemate with Minoprio dei Della Porta family, owner of several palaces swept away by the landslide.
The hamlets of Piuro
After the landslide of September 4, 1618, the village of Piuro was erased, leaving various hamlets that have maintained the old denomination at the municipal level. The Municipality and the major productive activities are located in Prosto, while other important nuclei are Borgonuovo, Santa Croce, and Savogno.
Conclusions
Here are some curiosities about Piuro, a truly fascinating scattered municipality rich in history. If you want to discover more information about this municipality, I suggest you visit the official website of the Municipality of Piuro. I hope this summary has been helpful and has helped you get to know this Lombardian place a little better. See you soon!
