San Cipriano Po
Welcome to Chignolo Po!
Hello everyone! Today we will talk about Chignolo Po, a municipality in the province of Pavia in Lombardy. We are happy to introduce this beautiful city located at the mouth of the Lambro river in the Po. Chignolo Po is composed of three fractions, Lambrinia, Alberone, and Bosco, and is inhabited by about 3912 people. The city is about thirty kilometers away from the provincial capitals of Pavia, Lodi, and Piacenza.
The History of Chignolo Po
The name Chignolo derives from the Latin ''Cuncolus ad Padum'', ''Cuniolus'', and from Lombard ''Chignoeu''. In the 10th century, Chignolo belonged to the Santa Cristina monastery. It developed in an area between the Lambro and Po rivers, which in the 1400s still flowed close to the majestic castle of Chignolo Po of the Federici family. In 1466, Galeazzo Maria Sforza rectified the course of the river in a project that took ten years, resulting in a larger, more fertile, and safer territory from floods. From traditions, it is thought that Chignolo Po was inhabited since the Stone Age and, certainly, since the pre-Roman era when it became a fortified center along the path of the Romea road. Therefore, it was a place of passage and rest for pilgrims on the Via Francigena. In the 9th century, Chignolo was granted to the Benedictine monks of Santa Cristina and Bissone, the nearby Longobard-founded monastery. In 1936, Cantonale, already in the province of Milan and always linked to the Lodi area, was merged with the municipality of Chignolo.
The Symbols of Chignolo Po
The banner of Chignolo Po is an azure flag, while the coat of arms and the banner were granted by royal decree on February 8, 1939.
Society
Chignolo Po has a population of about 3912 inhabitants with a variety of ethnicities and foreign minorities. As of December 31, 2018, foreigners residing in the municipality of Chignolo Po totaled 628. Among the most represented nationalities, there are Romania, Morocco, India, Albania, Egypt, and Ukraine.
Guignol: The Legend
One cannot talk about Chignolo Po without mentioning Guignol. The legend dates back to the mid-16th century when Francis I of France invited and recruited Piedmontese and Lombard weavers to establish and develop silk processing factories in France, especially in Lyon. According to the legend, Guignol was a young Lombard weaver who, when he went to Lyon for work, sang and told funny stories to his colleagues. They were truly entertained by his stories, so Guignol became famous, and his stories spread throughout the city. The people started calling him Guignol, after the name of a puppet from French popular tradition.
And with this story, dear friends, our journey in the beautiful city of Chignolo Po concludes. Thank you for reading, and we hope to have made you know this town a little better. See you soon!
