It beat the Sicilian village of Palazzolo Acreide in the final and became the borgo dei borghi of 2019: Bobbio in Emilia Romagna is the most beloved place thanks to its ancient history and culture.
Bobbio is the most beautiful village in Italy. The television marathon Borgo dei borghi 2019 has come to an end — the ranking that has for some time now also become a programme on Rai3, during which the most beautiful villages in the country are presented and then voted on. The winner, chosen from among small communities that are often treasure chests of unexpected wonders, was decided by the public and a jury chaired by art historian Philippe Daverio and also comprising fencing champion Margherita Grambassi and geologist Mario Tozzi. A much-loved initiative that has the merit of helping people discover our country better, travelling the length of the boot region by region in search of the wonders that surround us.
Twenty villages made it to the grand final, one for each Italian region; here they are in order of appearance: Laigueglia in Liguria, Castel del Monte for Abruzzo, Cetona in Tuscany, Fiumefreddo Bruxio in Calabria, Fratta Polesine for Veneto, Tremosine sul Garda in Lombardy, Rotondella in Basilicata, Vitorchiano in Lazio, Strassoldo in Friuli Venezia Giulia, Bagnoli del Trigno for Molise, Tassullo in Trentino Alto Adige, Bovino in Puglia, Gressoney-Saint Jean in Valle d'Aosta, Gradara in the Marche and Palazzolo Acreide for Sicily, Lugnano in Teverina in Umbria, Cella Monte in Piedmont, Castellabate in Campania, Bobbio for Emilia Romagna, Atzara in Sardinia.
Among these, the final challenge was decided by a televote from viewers and judges who each account for 50 per cent of the honour and responsibility of declaring the most beloved village presented.
Read also: Il borgo dei borghi torna in tv con tutta la bellezza delle regioni d'Italia
The winner on the evening of 20 October, hosted by Camila Raznovich, was Bobbio in the Province of Piacenza in Emilia Romagna, which beat the villages of Rotondella, Palazzolo Acreide and Laigueglia, which had reached the grand final.
Bobbio is a jewel on the River Trebbia, born amid 3 different regions: the porticoes of Piazza Duomo, recently restored, are magnificent, as are the cobbled lanes of the village, the Ponte Gobbo and the Roman, Lombard and Carolingian heritage housed in the abbey museum. The Abbey of Bobbio is indeed one of its gems, known as the Montecassino of the north.
Another unmissable stop is the Basilica of San Colombano: its story began with Colombano, an Irish monk regarded as a saint, who built — on the site where the castle now stands — the first nucleus of what would become a great monastic complex, a beacon of culture thanks to its schools, its scriptorium and the most important library of the early Middle Ages.
The symbol of Bobbio, however, is undoubtedly the famous Ponte Vecchio, also known as the Gobbo or the Devil's Bridge, on account of its distinctive undulating and twisted profile. Of Romanesque origin with later modifications and Baroque superstructures, it is 280 metres long and features eleven arches of unequal size. The earliest records date to 1196; it was subsequently destroyed by river floods and rebuilt several times.
Also worth seeing in Piazza San Francesco are the sanctuary of the Madonna dell'Aiuto (1621) and the monastery of San Francesco, preserved in the rustic Franciscan style of the 13th century with a 15th-century cloister, while the church was rebuilt in Baroque form at the beginning of the 18th century.