Conzano
Conzano | |
---|---|
Comune di Conzano | |
Lucy of Syracuse | |
Saint day | 13 December |
Website | Official website |
The Commune of Conzano (Italian:
The town became famous for having been declared, in 1992, as the symbol of the massive emigration of the people to the northern Queensland, Australia, about 1890-1935 period: the ancient town square, named Piazza d'Armi (= Weapons Square), was renamed in Piazza Australia and Conzano has been twinned with Ingham, Queensland.
Geography
The town is situated on the Montferrat hills, among the Grana and Rotaldo creeks, at an altitude of 262 meters above the sea level, and includes two decentralized hamlets (the latter's formal status as a frazione) in the northern flat side (near Casale Monferrato), recognised in the Statuto Comunale [1]): the first one is Castello, the second one is San Maurizio. To the north-east side, the country borders with Occimiano, to the south-east with Lu e Cuccaro Monferrato, and to the west with Camagna Monferrato. The municipal territory extends over a predominantly rural area of 11.62 square kilometres (4.49 sq mi).
Ancient history
In ancient times, the site was inhabited by prehistoric settlements, followed by a Roman colonization of consul Marco Fulvio Flacco (2nd century), contemporary of Celtic-ligurian tribes named Iadatine, from the Latin Iactum, the ancient name of the Grana creek.
Since 3rd century A.D. they are documented rules of patrician praedials named Medialianus, but also Condius, Contius, accordingly the origin of toponym Contiacus, Conziacanus, Conzianus.
A true urban village begins about the 5th century, at the bottom of the hill. Exposed to repeated incursions throughout the
The Emperor
Since 12th century, Conzano was dominated by the March of Montferrat, in quarrel with the Ghilini dynasty, Lords of Alessandria. Accordingly, the town was fortified, with the construction of a tower on the eastern side, called today the "Clock Tower" or "Civic Tower". About 15th century, in front of it, is built the pretty little church of San Biagio. Slightly late, is the small church of the decentralized hamlet of San Maurizio, in late Gothic style (about half of the 15th century), where it seems to be here the remains of queen Sophia, daughter of
Early modern period
Since 1709, Conzano was annexed to the
The population increased, at least until the call of the
In 1992, there was a discovery of this interesting historical events, the town has been twinned with Ingham, Queensland, the opening of a thematic exhibition and a quote in memory of the official spokesman of conzanese people emigrated to Australia, Ettore Cantamessa (1892-1947).
Twin town
- Ingham, a town with some 4,700 inhabitants in the Australian state of Queensland, has been twinned with Conzano since 1992-1993.[3]
Population trends
References
- ^ a b c Statuto Comunale (2000) Archived 2008-09-08 at the Wayback Machine
- Istat.
- ^ Ambiente e cenni storici – 4, Comune di Conzano, 1998–2005, archived from the original on 2004-12-31