The Giara Valley and its spectacular bridges
The Giara di Rezzo is a tributary of the Arroscia stream. It’s valley is home to three medieval villages of great historical importance: Rezzo, Lavina and Cenova.
The first, which has today the role of Municipality, was a strategic military point, as witnessed by the Clavesana’s castle.
Lavina, and even earlier the ancient Lavinella that stood further upstream, served as the gateway to the mule track towards the Marenca roads of the Impero Valley.
Cenova was the home of a school of stonecutters who, from the fifteenth century, enriched the Western Liguria with stone treasures.
Given the great economic and military importance of the Giara Valley, the crossing points of the stream were fundamental: numerous and spectacular bridges were built, mostly between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The importance of the road network was such that, for centuries, all the householders of the families living in Rezzo had to provide two days of free work per year for the maintenance and restoration of the tracks.
Fonte: La valle di Rezzo, Gianni de Moro, volume primo, Dominici Editore 1988
Testo a cura di Nicola Ferrarese, immagini di Nicola Ferrarese