Bobbio: The Trebbia Valley Town With the Bridge That Hemingway Loved

Autore: La Redazione di www.tourleaderpro.com

Bobbio is a town of 3,500 inhabitants in the Trebbia valley in the Emilian Apennines (province of Piacenza), 80km south of Piacenza at 272 metres altitude. It has a medieval centre of remarkable completeness, the Ponte Gobbo (the "Humpback Bridge" — a medieval multi-arched bridge of extraordinary visual quality spanning the Trebbia), the Abbey of San Colombano (founded in 614 AD by the Irish monk Columban — one of the most important early medieval monasteries in Europe, with a library that preserved manuscripts through the Dark Ages), and the clearest mountain river trout fishing in northern Italy. Hemingway fished the Trebbia in 1918 while recovering from his wounds at the American Hospital in Milan and described it as the most beautiful river he had ever seen. The Trebbia is still clear, cold, and full of trout. Bobbio is one of those Italian places that Italians who know it defend passionately and that international tourists almost never reach.

The Ponte Gobbo

The Ponte Gobbo di Bobbio (also called Ponte del Diavolo — the Devil's Bridge, because the medieval tradition attributed all unusually beautiful bridges to the devil) is a multi-arch bridge of 11 unequal arches spanning the Trebbia near the town centre. It was built in the early medieval period — dates proposed range from the Roman period to the 13th century — in a way that gives it the characteristic humped profile: each arch is at a slightly different height, creating the undulating silhouette that makes the bridge photographically extraordinary. The Trebbia at Bobbio is wide and shallow in summer, revealing gravel banks on both sides of the bridge that provide the foreground for the classic photograph. The bridge is walkable (pedestrian only) and gives the finest views of the town from the riverbed.

The Abbey of San Colombano

The Abbey of San Colombano was founded in 614 AD by the Irish monk Columban (Columbanus, 543-615) — the most important missionary of the early Celtic church, who established monasteries throughout Gaul and northern Italy before founding Bobbio as his final house. The monastery at its peak (8th-10th century) was one of the most important intellectual centres in Europe — its scriptorium copied and preserved texts (including Cicero's De Re Publica, a text unknown in medieval Europe until the Bobbio copy was identified in the Vatican Library in 1820) that otherwise would have been lost. The current building is a 17th-century reconstruction; the crypt preserves the original early medieval structure and the tomb of Columban. The Abbey library (Biblioteca Capitolare) has a collection of medieval manuscripts of exceptional importance — visit by appointment.

Questions About Bobbio

How do I get to Bobbio?

By car from Piacenza: 80km south on the SS45 along the Trebbia valley — 1h15. From Genova: 80km north on the SS45 — 1h30. By bus: SETA service from Piacenza (approximately 1h30). No train service. The Bobbio drive from Piacenza along the Trebbia is spectacular — a river valley progressively narrowing through limestone gorges, one of the most scenic drives in the Emilian Apennines.

What is the trout fishing in Bobbio like?

The Trebbia at Bobbio is one of the finest wild brown trout rivers in northern Italy — extremely clear water, cold temperatures (8-12°C in summer), gravel and rock bottom, regulated fishing with catch-and-release sections. The season runs from March to September. The trout also appears on restaurant menus in Bobbio — trota alla Trebbia (pan-fried with local herbs and butter) is the local speciality.

Curiosità su Bobbio

Columban (San Colombano) è uno dei tre santi irlandesi che fondarono monasteri nell'Italia settentrionale (gli altri due sono San Gallo, che diede il nome all'abbazia svizzera di San Gallo, e San Vigilio, patrono di Trento). L'attività missionaria irlandese nell'Europa continentale del VI-VII secolo — il cosiddetto "Peregrini pro Christo" (pellegrini per Cristo) — fu fondamentale per la conservazione della cultura classica durante il crollo dell'Occidente romano. I monaci irlandesi copiavano i testi classici con una dedizione che le istituzioni ecclesiastiche romane, impegnate nella sopravvivenza politica, non sempre potevano garantire. Il manoscritto di Cicerone copiato a Bobbio è il caso più famoso: un testo perduto per mille anni che esisteva solo in questa copia prodotta da monaci che leggevano il latino per motivi religiosi e preservavano testi pagani per ragioni che non avrebbero saputo del tutto spiegare, ma che facevano. La cultura si conserva per vie oblique. Vedi anche: Emilia-Romagna · Piacenza · Italy.