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Compitese

The Compitese (or Còmpito area) is a geographical area in the Province of Lucca, located in the southern part of the Municipality of Capannori. It extends along the northeastern slope of the Monte Pisano massif, overlooking the Lucca plain and the so-called bed of Lake Bientina or Lake Sesto.

Geography

The Compitese area occupies a completely conventional area within the municipality of Capannori, which has varied over time according to the territorial boundaries imposed by the administrative authorities. Currently, it does not have a corresponding administrative division within the Municipality of Capannori, and therefore the villages that were historically part of the Piviere di Compito have been grouped together here.

It encompasses a territory just under a third of the total area of ​​the Municipality of Capannori, of which it is the area with the lowest population density. It is a geographical area that alternates between plains, hills, and low mountains.

The ten towns that currently comprise it are: Castelvecchio di Compito, Colle di Compito, Colognora di Compito, Massa Macinaia, Pieve di Compito, Ruota di Compito, Sant'Andrea di Compito, San Ginese di Compito, San Giusto di Compito, and San Leonardo in Treponzio.

The total population of the Compitese is equal to 7,246 inhabitants (data updated to 2019 by the Municipality of Capannori).[1]

Morphological, Climatic, and Environmental Characteristics

The partial shelter from sea winds, provided by the Monte Pisano massif, gives the area a unique semi-humid microclimate, making it particularly suitable for the growth of certain plant species. This is the characteristic that unites all the villages of the Compitese area.

The numerous hills, which allow for ideal soil drainage, are home to large expanses of olive groves, which have completely replaced grapevine cultivation, producing an oil with exquisite organoleptic properties, a true regional excellence.

The only Italian tea plantation is located in the Compito area, at the "Antica Chiusa Borrini" in Sant'Andrea.[2]

The undoubted pride of the area, the "Exhibition of Ancient Camellias of Lucca" has been held annually since 1989 in Sant'Andrea and Pieve di Compito, with double dates in spring and autumn. This exhibition features a vast assortment of flowers from the many Compito nurserymen, who, thanks to the unique climate, produce the most renowned camellia varieties.[3]

In the Bientina riverbed, which the Tuscans call "Padule" (a distortion of the word "palude" through a process of metathesis), an area used for agricultural cultivation since the 19th-century reclamation, lies "Lago della Gherardesca" (Gherardesca Lake), the last remnant of Lake Sesto. It covers an area of ​​approximately 30 hectares and extends within a protected area along the migratory routes of birds, where hunting is prohibited. A short distance away is the Il Bottaccio Natural Protected Area of ​​Local Interest|Oasi del Bottaccio]], a protected wetland of extreme naturalistic importance, managed by the WWF.

The numerous fountains located throughout the area are extremely renowned, providing the population with uninterrupted supply of pure water. This efficient system is possible thanks to the many streams and rivers that flow from Monte Pisano, the mountain between Pisa and Lucca. The springs have recently been renovated and equipped with a disinfection system, and the water quality is monitored by periodic checks to ensure its drinkability.

As proof of the deep-rooted bond between the Compitese community and the rural world, in June 2023 the areas at the foot of the mountain between Pieve and Sant'Andrea hosted the first edition of the "Festival del Bosco." For a whole week, the area hosted shows, conferences, trekking, food and wine markets, and much more. The aim of the event was to entertain lovers of nature, ecological lifestyles, and good local food. Given the festival's success, the organizers have expressed their support for repeating it in future years.

Origins of the name

The Latin origin of the name is uncertain. Riccardo Ambrosini (1926-2008) and Cesare Sardi, two important authors of local history, refer it to the meaning of word compito to crossroads, a little crossroads, a junction, derived from the Latin word compĭtum, which, in particular, according to Bishop of Lucca, Cesare Sardi, (Lucca, 18 June 1853 - Lucca, 22 September 1924) indicate the intersection of via Di Tiglio (now Strada statale 439 Sarzanese - Valdera), located in front of the ancient hospital of San Leonardo, the nerve center of the Compito area. Ambrosini also hints at a possible Lombard Testo in corsivoorigin of the name due to an assonance with other toponyms derived from Lombard personal names (Gumbizo).

History

Introduction

It should be noted before any narrative that Lake Sesto/Bientina, now extinct, occupied the eastern area of ​​the Compitese until 1859, the year in which drainage work began, which led in the 20th century to the creation of a fertile plain lying on the lakebed. The lake, in fact, had formed only after the fall of the Roman Empire, when the Lombards and other barbarian peoples invaded Tuscany and obliterated the maintenance and water management works that had allowed the Romans to develop a fertile plain outside the city of Lucca. The land reclamation works were completed in 1892. This allowed archaeologists to unearth traces of Etruscan, Roman, and finally Lombard settlements, which had occupied the same sites throughout the ages. Necropolises (Bernardi 1955-1957) and an Etruscan settlement were discovered in the Bientina area, but subsequent finds were made primarily along the Rogio, the ancient southern branch of the Auser,[4] from Colognora di Compito to Bientina.

Prehistory and Protohistory

Human presence in this area dates back 150,000 years, as evidenced by flakes, points, burins, and scrapers found in the area of ​​Castelvecchio di Compito. [5] According to the archaeologist Giulio Ciampoltrini, permanent settlements along the banks of the ancient Auser River began to appear at the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age: important in this regard are the excavations carried out in the area immediately north of the "Palazzaccio" of San Ginese di Compito.[6]

Ancient History

Settlements were found on the right bank of the southern branch of the Auser, at Chiarone di Capannori, near Castelnuovo di Compito, which have been shown to date back to the 8th and 7th centuries, a period linked to the Villanovan culture.[7] According to historians, the Auser thus became one of the most important trade routes for the expansion of the Etruscans towards the north of Italy in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, with a real explosion of Etruscan settlements in the plain [8]: settlements have been discovered in Chiarone, Palaiola and in other areas of the Palude. The invasion of the Gauls in 390 BC is well documented, having driven the Etruscans back beyond the Arno, resulting in the depopulation of the villages along the Auser. The Apuans, usually inhabitants of the hills, could have taken advantage of this to occupy the reliefs of the Pisan Mountains and perhaps the Compitese. But the advance of the troops of the Roman Republic towards the north was incessant. The date of the Roman conquest of the Lucca plain dates back to the period between 265 and 220 BC, as reported by Livy in Book XXI.[9]The Roman consul Sempronius Longus, pursued by Hannibal during the Second Punic War after the defeat at the Trebbia (218 BC), while Hannibal joined forces with the Ligurians, traditional adversaries of the Romans, took refuge in Lucca[10], probably already fortified and allied or already a Roman outpost.

In 179 BC, after a decade of battles with mixed results, the Romans, led by Quintus Fulvius Flaccus and Aulus Postumius Albinus, defeated the Apuan-Ligurians, and the following year, 180 BC, downstream from their territories and precisely to stop them, founded a new Latin colony, Luca, in the territory subject to Pisa, a city already allied with Rome. After the conclusion of hostilities with the Apuan Ligurians (155 BC) and at the end of the republican era, a large number of veteran legionaries were transferred to the marshy and swampy plain of Lucca, similarly to what is documented for Luni[11]. As was the custom of the ancient Romans, the lands taken from the Ligurians and the Etruscans were first divided into squares, measuring 710 metres per side in its classical form, corresponding to 20 actus, therefore over 50 hectares, or 1/2 km2, each of which was theoretically intended to host one hundred families of colonists, from which the name of the technique used, "centuriation", derives. The lands assigned to the veteran legionaries, as a reward for their loyalty to the generals, were dotted with rural dwellings, to guard the cultivated lands, each adopting the model of a domus with an atrium, well documented in the excavations of the Palazzaccio.[12] A second colonisation is well documented [13], for which the prefect in charge of the division of the lands, L. Memmio C. Galleria, in the triumviral or Augustan era, assigned the lands to the veterans of the XXVI and VIII legions. The sites of Roman colonist settlements, discovered on the left bank of the Auser in the municipality of Porcari (Fossa Nera) and on the right bank of Capannori (Palazzaccio in Colognora di Compito), are rich in finds.

The PALAZZACCIO'σ ruins

The Palazzaccio site, located on the canal's crest, demonstrates the succession of human cultures from the Bronze Age (2nd millennium BC) to the present day, passing through the Etruscans, the Romans, the Lombards and throughout the Middle Ages up to the present day. At the end of the millennium (1999), an archaeological park of the "100 Roman Farms" was created, for the use of guided itineraries by archaeological professionals on the left bank of the Rogio, recently refinanced.

The current appearance of the Lucca plain landscape, with its loosely spaced rural houses distributed across the land, originates from the distribution of farmhouses implemented with Roman centuriations.[14] Today's toponymy frequently refers to Roman colonization: Colognora (small colony) and Villora, the village of San Ginese now called Villa, from Villa,ae, Colle di Compito from the Latin Collis,is, Pieve di Compito from Plebs, Castelvecchio di Compito from Castrum Veteris, etc.

Early Middle Ages

The Birth of Lake Sesto (or Bientina)

After the collapse of the Roman Empire, the Compitese plain, until then exploited for agricultural production, was invaded by the waters of the Auser: no one was responsible for the maintenance of the canals that had reclaimed the land, which was transformed into a marshy and swampy basin, the so-called Lake Bientina (for the Pisans) or Sesto (for the Luccans), subject to periodic flooding, which also made the surrounding areas uninhabitable, until it became the largest lake in the Tuscany region.[15] It is difficult to follow the development of its surface over the centuries, but Elena Paderi has thought to connect the presence of archaeological finds of tombs and other settlements, discovered as early as the late 19th century, to the absence of water in those places, thus demonstrating how in ancient Etruscan-Roman times, the lake extended only in its lowest part, enclosed to the south of the lake island by the hypsometric curves of level 6.[16]

Sesto' s Abbey or "Badia"

Being able to make up for the disappearance of Roman institutions, the religious bodies of the local communities, present everywhere, even in the territory of the Compitum, gained importance: parish churches, churches, hospitals ("xenodochia" and hospitalia pauperum et peregrinorum[17]) and monasteries or abbeys.

Among the religious buildings in the area, the one with the greatest prestige and power in the Lucca countryside was certainly the monastery of the Abbey or Badia di Sesto, which Alberto Maria Onori rightly compares to an ecclesiastical lordship, due to its independence from the Bishop of Lucca.[18] The building, the remains of which can be seen today in the Villa Ravano-Gabin, located in the territory of Castelvecchio, has its roots in the early Middle Ages. However, some artefacts dating back to the Roman era have been found in the Villa's vineyard. In particular, in the 1950s, in the park annexed to the Badia, a Latin epigraph emerged dating back[19] to the 1st century AD [20], from which the probable dating of the settlement can be deduced, as confirmed by G. Ciampoltrini himself, who, regarding the inscription, refers to a figure in relief which would represent a boat. It is therefore possible that the depiction of the boat recalls the activities of fabri navales; the deceased could have belonged to a family involved in the construction of ships or boats.[21] The epigraph is currently located in the Athena Museum in Capannori.[29]

The Abbey of San Salvatore di Sesto was founded in 668 by Salimano, son of the Eastern Roman Emperor, while the first Abbot was Benedetto in 714: this origin is recounted by domnus Benignus de Luca del Massaro [22] and reported, with some doubt, by the same compilers in the Annales Camaldolentes Vol. I pp. 357-358[23]. It was refounded by the mother Willa of the Marquis Ugo II of Tuscany[24] in 996. A written document, reported by Barsocchini in his collection Memorie e documenti per servire alla storia di Lucca, Volume V part II, as document no. CCLIV, however, attests to its existence in 796[25] [26]. It obtained various imperial recognitions, namely, those of Otto III in 986, Henry II in 1020, Corrado II in 1027, Henry III in 1053, which helped it to gather a vast territorial patrimony, extending above all in the Compitese but which reached as far as Volterra and beyond the Apennines, in the Parma area. With the papal bull of Sergius IV of 2 December 1010, the monastery had obtained immediate submission to the Holy See and absolute independence from the local ecclesiastical hierarchy [27].

The origins of the Piviere di Compito

According to Salvatore Andreucci [28], one of the first historical references to the Compitese dates back to 983, dating from a rental contract, reported by Barsocchini [29], in which the Bishop of Lucca Teudigrimo allivella[30] to Sisemondo, ascendant of the lords of Montemagno of Lucca[31], the lands of the baptismal plebs[32] of Santo Stefano and San Giovanni Battista of Villora and the possible proceeds from the inhabitants of 14 villages, dependent on the same Pieve: Paganico, Colugnola, Collina, Vinelia (Palaiola), Cerpeto, Vivaio, Colle, Tillio, Cumpito, Vico a S.Agostino, Faeto, Massa Macinaia. The dedication to San Giovanni Battista was introduced for all the Pievi by the Bishop of Lucca Pietro II (from 896 to 932).[33]

Late Middle Ages

The Parish Church of San Giovanni Battista and Santo Stefano di Villora certainly remained as such until 1026, as attested in document no. 114 of the Regestum of the Chapter of Lucca, which states: "Lignola (Colognora) prope plebem S. Stephani, que dicitur Villula". [34]

In an unspecified year, certainly before 1077, the year of publication of parchment no. 429, which commemorates the new Parish Church of Compito,[35] the Parish Church was moved to the current village of Pieve di Compito, which then took the title of Plebs Sancti Johannis Baptiste de Computo; the church of Villora then continued to exist as the simple Ecclesia Sancti Stephani de Villora, losing its dedication to Saint John the Baptist, which was transferred to the new Parish Church as a sign of continuity between the two Parishes. These are the historical beginnings of the Compitese, the Pieve di Compito, that is, the Piviere di Compito.[36]

The olive oil production of the area has been documented since the 11th century, when the measurement of rents was usually established in Cunpitesi measures.

In Italy, the phenomenon of castles signaled the strengthening of the aristocracy, which in the Compitese was represented between the first and second millennium by the Ecclesiastical Lordship of the Abbey of Sesto.[37] The second millennium began in the Lucca area, more than in other Tuscan regions, with renewed commercial and manufacturing activity (silk and wool), and in the Compitese we see the explosive birth of castles[38] in the Piviere di Compito, all promoted and controlled by the Abbey of Sesto. Communal wars between the Tuscan municipalities ravaged the territory, together with famines and epidemics. In the 14th century, Pisan raids, particularly those of Uguccione della Faggiola's troops in 1313[39], ravaged all the Piviere.

Castles

Chastellaccio: in Pieve di Compito stands what should be the Compito Castle, held (among others) by the Sismondi[40], a noble Lombard family; it was destroyed at the beginning of the 14th century by Pisan troops led by Uguccione della Faggiola. The moat and the perimeter of the walls remain, inside a forest on a hill. As J.A.Quiròs Castillo also points out in his "El incastellamento en el territorio de la ciudad de Luca (Toscana)" we must point out that there has often been confusion between the Compito Castle located here and the one that appears to have existed in the hamlet of Sant'Andrea di Compito, of which the splendid "Signal Tower" still exists.

Sant'Andrea di Compito's Tower

Castenuovo (Castri Novi): in Colle di Compito, located on Monte Castello (held by the Lambercioni family and the Gallo family[47], first documentary attestation: year 1027, diploma of Corrado II[41][42]);almost nothing remains of the fortification even if the village is perched on the hill as it must have been around the Castle.

Castelvecchio (Castrum Veteris): located on the hill of the homonymous hamlet of Castelvecchio di Compito (first documentary attestation: year 869[50], held by the Orlandinghi family[43], destroyed in 1313[44]); of the castle, the characteristic village on the top of the hill with the houses built into the walls survives.

Castelvecchio's citadel now.

Castle of the Island: located on the island with the church of San Benedetto, attested in the year 1027, diploma of Corrado II.[49]Nothing remains of the island that once stood in the middle of Lake Sesto, nor of the church and fortress that once stood there: everything was destroyed by the Pisans. Artifacts dating back to various historical periods have been discovered on the site.

Castel Durante (Castrum Durantis):in San Ginese di Compito in the "Castello" area, founded by the Duranti family[45]; it was destroyed by the Pisans in 1313[46];The castle, which was built where the Church of Castello is now, perhaps still stands in some double walls that lead to the top of the hill. Castle di Poggio[47] in Collina di San Ginese di Compito, or more likely in the nearby Al Porto area, founded by the Pogginghi family [48]. The castle still lives in the walls of the houses in the villages, but nothing of it can be appreciated. Castle di Ruota, the Nobili da Photori and Ruota were the lords of this castle[49], destroyed on 11 April 1397 by Strambo da Calci dei Pisani.[50] Even in this village you can still see rows of double walls that belonged to the castle.

Abbey or Badia of Sesto

In the 11th century, within a few years, the Abbey fortified four nearby sites, thus creating: the castle of Compito (in Pieve di Compito), Castelvecchio and Castro Novo de Sesto (in Colle di Compito), and another castle on an island in Lake Sesto.[51]

In the late Middle Ages, the Abbey of Sesto lost part of its autonomy, passing under the control of the Prior of Camaldoli (1115-1118) and in 1134 under the Monastery of San Benedetto Po, Mantua.[52] The Guinigiano Extimo of 1411-1413 still lists its possessions in the Pieve di Compito.

Illustration no. 302, p. 324 of "Illustrations of the Chronicles in the Lucca Codex"[53] portrays the single-nave church and the turreted bell tower of the Abbey of Sesto on 11 April 1397, when, in the wars between Pisa and Lucca, "When the people of Pisa fought, they took, stole, and pillaged Chastelvecchio di Compoto." The episode is narrated in Vol. I of the Chronicles of Giovanni Sercambi, Lucchese, on page 371.[54]

Piviere of Compito

In 1260 the Piviere di Compito, or rather the territory of the municipalities, which were subject to the main Pieve, according to Estimo of the Diocese of Lucca,[55] of the Diocese of Lucca[56], was composed of:

1.Plebs di Compoto, 2.Ecclesia S.Andree, 3.Eccl. S.Iusti de Massa Macinaria, 4.Eccl. S. Laurentii de Massa Macinaria, 5.Eccl. S.Stephani de Villore, 6.Eccl. S. Bartholomei de Ruota, 7.Eccl. S.Michaelis de Colognora, 8.Eccl.S.Marie ad Colle, 9.Eccl. S.Petri ad Phorcore, 10.Eccl. S.Alexandri de Castro Durantis,11. Eccl.Iohannis ad Colle, 12.Eccl. S. Blasii de Faeto, 13.Eccl. S.Marie ad Ripam, 14.Eccl. S.Michaelis de Compoto, 15.Eccl.S.Columbani, 16.Eccl. S.Peregrini de Colline, 17.Eccl. SS. Johannis and Andree de Castroveteri, 18.Hospitale S.Leonardi, 19.Monasterium S.Andree in Silva, 20.Mon. S.Quirici in Casale, 21.Mon. Michaelis de Guamo, 22.Mon.S.Salvatoris de Cantignano.[57]

Salvatore Bongi on page 119 of the fourth volume of the Inventory of the Royal State Archives of Lucca, reports a catalog of the year 1387 of the Churches of the Plebs of Compito, identical to that of 1260, adding the altars of Santa Maria and San Michaelis to the church of Ruota and the pro Monasterio S.Spiritus annexed to the Monastery of San Quirico.[58].

In 1412, thePieve di Compito was composed of the municipalities of:

1. Castelvecchio, 2. Ruota, 3. Borgo S. Agostino, 4. Body of the Pieve di Compito, 5. S. Michele a Colombaio, 6. S. Pietro a Forcone, 7. S. Mari di Ripa, 8. S. Colombano, 9. S. Andrea di Compito, 10. Castel Durante, 11. De' Colli, 12. Colle, 13. S. Giusto, 14. Pietrogallo, 15. Villora, 16. S. Lorenzo di Massa Macinaia, 17. Colognora.[59]

Modern and Contemporary Age

Abbey or Badia of Sesto

Reconstruction of the Badia complex, taken from an ancient map of 1659,

A modern map from 1659, from the State Archives of Lucca, shows in three-dimensional perspective a building complex called "Case e Chiesa alla Badia" [Houses and Church at the Badia][60], including a large turreted bell tower and a single-nave church. A "Villa called Badia," presumably one of the buildings that once made up the complex of the Abbey of Sesto, is depicted in 1795.[61]

In the 19th century, the Villa Della Gherardesca was built on the ruins of the religious complex, which had other owners including the Ravano, Cambiaso, and Poschi families. Today, the complex is largely covered by hedges, not far from Lake Gherardesca. Of the ancient abbey, only part of the bell tower remains visible on the north side.[62] The current owners, the Gabin family, own a farm on the surrounding land.

The Pivere (Pivierj) of Compito

In 1539, the statute of the Municipality of Lucca provided for a Commissioner of Duty for the Pivierj.[63] In the 1547-1561 Extimo of the Pivierj of Compito appears to be composed of 13 municipalities: 1.S.Andrea, 2.Della Pieve, 3.Il borgo S.Agustino, 4.S.Michele a Colombaia, 5. San Frediano, 6.Castel Durante, 7. S.Giusto, 8.San Lorenzo di Massa, 9. Colle, 10.Castel Vecchio, 11.Ruota, 12. S.Maria a Ripa, 13. S.Piero a Forcone.[64] The Plebs di Compito was composed as follows in 1587: 1. Ecclesia s. Pellegrini de Colline, 2. Ecclesia s. Adree, 3. Ecclesia s. Justi de Massa Macinaria, 4. Ecclesia s. Laurenti de Massa Macinaria, 5. Ecclesia s. Stefani de Villoria, 6. Ecclesia s.Bartolomei de Ruota, 7. Altar of s.Maria in dicta ecclesia, 8. Altar of s.Michaelis in dicta ecclesia, 9. Ecclesia s.Michaelis de Colognora, 10. Ecclesia s.Petri a Forcone, 11. Ecclesia s.Alexandri de Castro Durantis, 12.Ecclesia s.Johannis a Colle, 13. Ecclesia s.Blasi de Facto, 14. Ecclesia s.Marie ad Ripam, 15. Ecclesia s. Micheelis de Computo, 16.Ecclesia s. Columbani, 17. Ecclesia s. Johannis and Andree de Castroveteri, 18. Hospitale s. Leonardi, 19. Monasterium s. Andree in Silva, 20. Monasterium s. Quirici in Casale and for the Monasterio s. Spiritus eidem annexo, 21. Monasterium s. Michaelis de Guamo, 22. Monasterium s. Salvatoris de Cantigano.[65]

On March 8 and 15, 1605, the Republic of Lucca decreed the dispatch of an "Extraordinary Commissioner for Criminal Matters," initially to regulate fishing and then for other crimes. The first was Simo Menocchi, who was based in Colle di Compito for 40 days, with jurisdiction over: Pieve S. Paolo, Capannori, Santa Margherita, Colle, Castelvecchio, Tassignano, Badia, Palaiola, and Ruota. On July 16, 1632, due to brawls between the Compito residents and the inhabitants of Calci, another commissioner was appointed with criminal jurisdiction for the municipalities of Compito and Massa Macinaia, based in Sant'Andrea di Compito. On May 8, 1636, another commissioner was appointed, required to reside in Sant'Andrea di C., with both criminal and civil jurisdiction over the entire Piviere.[66]

The Vicariate of Compito

In 1636, the Vicariate of Compito was established to replace the Piviere. It comprised 12 communities, whose deputies constituted the Parliament of Compito: 1. Compito, 2. Ruota, 3. Colle di Compito, 4. Vorno, 5. Castelvecchio, 6. Massa Macinaia, 7. San Giusto, 8. Castel Durante, Villora, and San Ginese forming a single municipality, 9. Badia di Cantignano, 10. Coselli, 11. San Leonardo in Treponzio, and 12. Colognora di Compito.[67]

Each community approved its own statute, containing internal organizational rules, albeit at different times. The "governors" were chosen who had the role of convening and coordinating the meetings of the representative men, whenever it was necessary to resolve problems, generally relating to agricultural and pastoral activities, or other local issues, such as the course of the streams and the lake, etc. [68]

In 1685 the Vicariate included 9 communities, listed below with the respective number of heads [70]: Colognora (30); S.Lunardo (18); S.Ginese (68); Castelvecchio (79); Ruota (112); Massa Macinaia (85); S.Giusto (22); Compito (280); Colle (228) for a total of 913 heads. [69] After fluctuating phases, on January 1,1669, the Commissary of Compito was renewed annually without interruption until 1802, and Sant'Andrea di Compito became home to the Commissioner's Palace. Its jurisdiction included the communities of the Vicariate, which with the judicial reform of 1802 were subjected to the Court of First Instance of the Serchio Distrit, or Lucca. However, Sant'Andrea remained a Justice of the Peace until 1808[70] and a Podestà from 1815 to 1818.[71] The new provisional government of the Republic of Lucca in 1801 also confirmed the Vicariate of Compito with the following participating communities: 1. Badia di Cantignano, 2. San Giusto di Compito, 3. Castel Vecchio, 4. S. Leonardo di Compito, 5. Compito Pieve, 6. Coselli, 7. S. Andrea di Compito, 8. Massa Macinaja, 9. Colle di Compito, 10. Ruota, 12. Colognora di Compito, 13. Vorno. 14. S. Ginese di Compito.[72] In the first days of May 1801, there were episodes of intolerance towards the new government. Commissioner Francesco Minutoli reported that about forty "ill-intentioned people" from Pieve di Compito, Palaiola, San Ginese, and Colle, "all armed, came to this square and uprooted the tree," "then where the tree had stood, they planted a cross," shouting "Long live the Cross, long live Religion!"[73]

In 1823, the entire Compito area was incorporated into the Municipality of Capannori, but Pieve di Compito continued to exist as a religious entity. According to E. Repetti[74], it had the following inhabitants: 1832

Pieve di Compito (body of the parish church): 620 Sant'Andrea di Compito: 660 S. Maria di Colle di Compito: 1168 S. Michele di Colognora di Compito: 191 San Ginese di Compito: 838 San Giusto di Compito: 156

1844

Pieve di Compito (St. John the Baptist): 790 St. Andrew of Compito: 784 St. Mary of Colle di Compito: 1406 St. Michael of Colognora di Compito: 227 St. Ginese of Compito: 986 St. Giusto of Compito: 484 St. Andrew of Castel Vecchio di Compito: 572

The Compito area remained under the jurisdiction of Lucca until its annexation to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in 1848. In 1859, the final reclamation of Lake Bientina was completed, thanks to the outstanding hydraulic engineering work designed by architect Alessandro Manetti.[75]

Currently the Compitese area has ten parishes, which are part of the Compitese parish community, the rectory of whose titular is located in San Ginese di Compito: the community is part of the pastoral area of ​​the Piana di Lucca, in turn included in the archdiocese of Lucca.[76]

Colle di Compito, Prisoner of War Camp

During World War II, in July 1942, the Colle di Compito prison camp for Anglo-American prisoners of war was established, with tents and several wooden barracks located in the Pollino marshes near Lake Gherardesca. The area was chosen for its isolation and proximity to the small Colle di Compito railway station on the Lucca-Pontedera line. At the end of September, the camp housed 3,970 inmates, divided as follows: 2,224 British, 1,737 South Africans, 3 Middle Easterners, 2 Indians, 3 Serbs, and one of unspecified nationality. Living conditions were appalling due to the unsanitary conditions and lack of adequate facilities; overall, however, relations, including among prisoners, guards, and the local population, were good.[77]

On September 10, 1943, German troops arrived at the camp to take control. When the Italian soldiers refused to carry out the order, the Germans responded by killing Captain Massimo De Felice, Colonel Vincenzo Cione, and Private Domenico Mastrippolito. In the confusion, the prisoners fled en masse, dispersing into the countryside, aided by the local population. What remained of the camp was looted by local residents.[78]

The camp was reactivated in late 1943 by the Italian Social Republic as a place of detention for political internees, Jews, and common prisoners. Between 250 and 300 people were incarcerated there. In June 1944, following an aerial strafing, the camp was definitively closed and the internees transferred to Bagni di Lucca.[79]

No trace of the camp remains today except for a commemorative plaque placed there in 1993 and a sign placing the site on a memorial trail run by the Municipality of Capannori.[80]

Monuments and Places of Interest

The area once boasted numerous castles, but except for the remains of Castelvecchio, nothing remains. Churches were, and still are, the vital centers of the villages.

==

Church of St. John the Baptist

Located in Colle di Compito, from the 11th century, it became a parish church and thus represented the main religious center of the Piviere, after the Parish Church of Santo Stefano and San Giovanni Battista, located in Villora, lost importance.

No trace remains of the ancient parish church, a Romanesque building with three naves, because in 1728 it was demolished and replaced by a rather imposing Latin cross structure with three naves and 12 quadrangular columns.[81]

The Church of Saint Andrew of Compito

It was founded in 919 in a place called "Trebbio"[2][3]; No longer able to accommodate the entire population, it was expanded for the first time between the 12th and 13th centuries. It underwent other major renovations later, including the bell tower, which was rebuilt in the mid-19th century on the ruins of the old tower. The church of San Pietro a Forcone is the oldest in the village, and in the 17th century, by then semi-abandoned and in poor condition, its benefices were moved to the new parish church of Sant'Andrea.

Signal Tower ( in Saint Andrew of Compito)

In the Middle Ages, it completed the complex defense system of the Republic of Lucca. A brazier was placed on the tower's roof, which was lit in the event of a Pisan invasion. This sent a light signal to Compito Castle, which in turn relayed it to the Palazzo Tower in the center of Lucca. This enabled the people of Lucca to send armed troops into the Compito area to stem enemy attacks in time. Given the tower's strategic importance, during the 15th century, the lord of Lucca, Paolo Guinigi, ordered its renovation. A metal cage was placed along the front wall, into which the heads of those condemned to death were placed, as a warning to other potential outlaws.

Palace of the Commissariat ( in Saint Andrew of Compito)

It was the seat of the Commissioner and Notary of the Piviere di Compito, and then, from 1638, of the Vicariate, as well as of Parliament. It was divided into two apartments on the first floor, one of which, the eastern one, was occupied by the Commissioner. On the ground floor were the prisons and a loggia. It was owned by the Niccolai family of Lucca and in 1754 was purchased by the Republic, which sold it to the Orsi family in 1824. Today, it no longer has its original appearance due to renovations.[82]

In the 18th century, noble and wealthy Luccans built numerous luxurious villas in Sant'Andrea di Compito: Villa Orsi, Villa Campetti, Villa Rosa, etc. Their spectacular gardens host the Exhibition of Ancient Camellias of Lucca in spring.[83]

Abbey of San Salvatore di Sesto

The Badia, ruins to-day

In the locality of La Badia in Castelvecchio di Compito are the remains of the ancient imperial Abbey, namely the remains of a bell tower, incorporated into the current building, which dates back to the 17th century.[84]

Church of San Michele Arcangelo (Colognora di Compito)

Colognora's church.

The current structure was built in 1865, over a pre-existing building.

Church of San Lorenzo (Massa Macinaia)

In 1675, it was renovated and equipped with a new bell tower. In the 20th century, the two side naves were added and the bell tower was renovated again.

Church of Santa Maria Assunta (Colle di Compito)

The current church was built on a previous Romanesque building and was expanded in the 17th century. Two centuries later, another church, the Sanctuary of the Madonna della Consolazione, was built within the hamlet, where an old shrine once stood.

Church of San Ginese (San Ginese di Compito)

The church of Castello

It was mentioned as early as 844, but the current building dates back to 1859, when it was rebuilt by the architect Giuseppe Pardini. It also served as a lookout point for Lake Sesto.[85]

Church of San Giusto (S. Giusto di Compito)

The first mention of the place of worship of San Giusto dates back to the year 1000. The church was demolished and replaced with a larger one in 1864. Its ancient bell tower also served as a watchtower and signal tower during the wars between Lucca and Pisa.[86]

Church of San Bartolomeo

The first documentation of the Church of San Bartolomeo in Ruota dates back to 1260.

Birthplace of Don Aldo Mei (Ruota)

Don Aldo Mei, parish priest of Ruota, was killed by the Nazis after being accused of harboring a Jew. Today, his act of resistance makes him a point of reference for the residents of Ruota and the entire Compito area.

Romanesque Church and Hospital of San Leonardo in Treponzio

The complex is located at the ancient intersection of Via Di Tiglio (now SS 439) and the old provincial road.

The Church of San Leonardo in Treponzio was built in the 11th century and is dedicated to Leonardo di Noblac.

Western facade of the church of San Leonardo.

The first mention is dated 30 November 1115: it concerns a donation of an olive grove "so that the fruits of the same [olive grove] may serve for the use and food of the pilgrims who come and go".[87]

Economy

The area has always had a strong rural and agricultural vocation.

An excellent product is the olive oil of Compitese, produced from the many olive groves scattered across the hills. In Pieve di Compito, there are two active oil mills: "Il Frantoio la Visona," which still produces using traditional methods, and the "Frantoio Sociale del Compitese", the most famous oil mill in the Lucca area.

The area occupied by the Padule (known on maps as the Bientina riverbed) is now used for intensive cereal cultivation and for pastoral activities, such as livestock grazing.

In Sant'Andrea, there is an area dedicated to the cultivation of camellias, which hosts the famous Camellia Festival, the main event in the Compitese area.[88]

Crafts, construction, and the agri-food industry are also widespread.

  1.  hg3w - client | CARTOTECA</
  2.  "The first and only tea plantation in Italy is in Lucca, a leaf costs €600 per kilo". Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  3.  "MOSTRA DELLE ANTICHE CAMELIE DELLA LUCCHESIA".
  4.  "Auser" is the ancient latin name of the Serchio river, which to-day flows from the Apennines to the sea, and was used throughout the Middle Ages.
  5.  By Salvatore Andreucci, Il Compitese ed i suoi dòmini, 1966.
  6.  Giulio Ciampoltrini, Domenico Barreca e Redazione della Cooperativa Archeologia, Insediamenti dell'Età del Bronzo fra le Cerbaie e l'Auser. Ricerche al Palazzaccio di Capannori e ai Cavi di Orentano, in I segni dell'Auser,2008.
  7.  Giulio Ciampoltrini VILLAGGI VILLANOVIANI E D’ETÀ ORIENTALIZZANTE SULL’AUSER. LA RIPRESA DELL’OCCUPAZIONE FRA VIII E VII SECOLO A.C.passim, Lucca,2007
  8.  Giulio Ciampoltrini, La piana lucchese fra VIII e V secolo a. C., in Gli Etruschi della Piana di Lucca., pp. 1 e segg..
  9.  Paolo Mencacci, Lucca le mura, Lucca, 2001, p. 16, position: first lines at the top.
  10.  Tito Livio, Liber XXI, in Ab urbe condita.
  11.  Tito Livio Ab Urbe condita Liber XIL, 13
  12.  Giulio Ciampoltrini, Edilizia rurale tra Valdarno e Valle del Serchio: la colonizzazione etrusca tra VI e V secolo a. C. e le deduzioni coloniali d’età tardorepubblicana, 2011, I segni dell'Auser
  13.  Giulio Ciampoltrini, LA GRIGLIA DI IGINO. NUOVI MATERIALI PER LA CENTURIAZIONE DI LUCCA.
  14.  Juan Antonio Quirós Castillo, The Fortification in the Territory of the City of Luca (Tuscany), 1999, pp. 139 et seq. "...it is possible that population dispersion was a characteristic of the settlement as early as Roman times."
  15.  Piano di classifica degli immobili , Origini ed evoluzione. (PDF), CONSORZIO DEL PADULE DEL BIENTINA, pp. 
  16.  Elena Paderi, Variazioni fisiografiche del Bacino del Bientina e della Pianura Lucchese durante i periodi storici, in Memorie della Reale Società Geografica Italiana, vol.VII - 1932 pp.189-118.
  17.  Amedeo Guidugli, La viabilità medioevale nella valle del Serchio e la nascita degli Hospitalia pauperum, in Il cammino del Volto Santo di Lucca: Le strade e gli ospedali per pellegrini nella valle del Serchio in epoca medioevale, Argot edizioni.
  18.  Onori,Alberto Maria, L'Abbazia di San Salvatore di Sesto ed il Lago di Bientina. Una Signoria Ecclesiastica 1250/1300, Salimbeni, 1984, passim
  19.  FRILLI M., 1998, Capannori archaeological itineraries II, page 18, which suggests that the abbey could have been built on the remains of the town of Sesto, village which has disappeared
  20.  Segni Dell'auser, Segni dell'Auser: Amici antichi e recenti: epigrafia latina nel territorio di Capannori (amore e morte, fatiche e successi), su Segni dell'Auser, lunedì 10 luglio 2017. URL consultato il 14 ottobre 2025.
  21.  Giulio Ciampoltrini, Amici antichi e recenti: epigrafia latina nel territorio di Capannori (amore e morte, fatiche e successi), on segnidellauser.blogspot.com. URL december 2 2023.
  22.  Alberto Maria Onori, L'Abbazia di San Salvatore a Sesto ed il lago di Bientina, Firenze, Salimbeni, 1984.
  23.  Mittarelli e Costadoni, Annales Camaldolentes, on play.google.com, I, pp. 357-358.
  24.  W. Kurze, Monasteri e nobiltà nella Tuscia altomedievale, in Monasteri e nobiltà nel senese e nella Toscana Medievale. Studi diplomatici, archeologici, genealogici, giuridici e sociali, by W. Kurze, Siena 1989.
  25.  Antonio Alberti, MONASTERI E CASTELLI SUL MONTE PISANO. INSEDIAMENTI MEDIEVALI IN UN’AREA DI CONFINE (X-XII SECOLO), in Studi di Storia degli Insediamenti in onore di Gabriella Garzella, Enrica Salvatori, p. 159.
  26.  Salvatore Andreucci, Il Compitese ed i suoi dòmini, in Giornale storico della Lunigiana e del territorio lucense, 1966, p. 41.
  27.  Alberto Maria Onori, L'Abbazia di San Salvatore a Sesto ed il lago di Bientina, Firenze, Salimbeni, 1984.
  28.  Salvatore Andreucci, Santo Stefano di Villora: la primitiva pieve del Compitese oggi scomparsa, in Giornale Storico della Lunigiana e del territorio lucense, vol. 1964, n. 1-3, 1964,, pp. 55-60.
  29.  Abate Domenico Barsocchini, Memorie e documenti per servire alla storia ecclesiastica lucchese, in documento MDLXI, III (tomo V parte III), 983, p. 943.
  30.  allivellare medioeval latin word, meaning to rent out
  31.  According to the majority of historians, the mechanism for the formation of nobles' estates was precisely that of the "level" contract desired and implemented by the ecclesiastical hierarchies in favor of certain eminent figures in the territory.
  32.  The Plebs or Pievania or Pieve "is a typical Italian institution that constitutes the mother church,through which the Bishop guided the christianization of the rural territory from the city" as J.A.Quiros Castillo says, in "El incastellamento en el territorio di Luca" page 43 note 10.
  33.  Paolo Tomei, Un nuovo 'polittico' lucchese del IX secolo:il breve de multis pensionibus, in Studi Medioevali, 2012, p. 585.
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  41.  Conradi II, MGH, IV, 80
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  43.  [Ser Pietro o Piero di Berto lucchese, Notizie di alcune famiglie e signori di castelli nel territorio di Lucca e dove abitassero, in manuscript n. 1639 contenuto nella Biblioteca di Stato di Lucca, 18th century.
  44.  Giovanni Sercambi, Le Croniche, a cura di Salvatore Bongi, I, p. 120,105-110.
  45.  Castillo, El incastellamento en el territorio de la ciudad de Luca (Toscana).
  46.  Giovanni Sercambi,Le Croniche, by Salvatore Bongi, I, p. 120, 105-110.
  47.  Salvatore Andreucci, Compito e i suoi dòmini nel medioevo, in Il Giornale storico della Lunigiana e del territorio lucense, 1966.
  48.  Ser Pietro o Piero di Berto lucchese, Notizie di alcune famiglie e signori di castelli nel territorio di Lucca e dove abitassero, in manuscript n. 1639 contenuto nella Biblioteca di Stato di Lucca, 18th century.
  49.  Ser Pietro o Piero di Berto lucchese, Notizie di alcune famiglie e signori di castelli nel territorio di Lucca e dove abitassero, in manuscript n. 1639 contenuto nella Biblioteca di Stato di Lucca, 18th century
  50.  Marco Frilli and GAC, Capannori archaeological itineraries II, 1998, p.39, news item referring to Nicola Sardo in Cronaca Pisana, p.229.
  51.  J.A.Quiròs Castillo, El incastellamento en el territorio de la ciudad de Luca, 3.1.2.Los castillos delsinglo XI.
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  54.  Giovanni Sercambi, CCCCXXXIV . COME LI HOMINI DI PISA ARSERO TUCTO CHASTELVECCHIO DI COMPOTO E PARTIRSI ., in Le croniche di Giovanni Sercambi, Lucchese, vol. 1.
  55.  The Estimo indicates a medieval census practice that is a cadastral and fiscal survey, used in the Middle Ages and still to-day in the Modern Age to evaluate citizens' assets (houses, lands, livestock) in order to fairly distribute the burden of taxes, such as fees and duties.When the Estimo was applied to churches, it included all the revenues of the ecclesiastical ministry, coming from the offerings of the faithful and from the profits derived from the properties..
  56.  It was commissioned to tax the Lucca clergy to cover the expenses of a papal legate; the clergy sought help from Pope Alexander IV, who promptly abolished the tax. (Taken from the preface by the curator Pietro Guidi)
  57.  Pietro Guidi (a cura di), Estimo della Diocesi di Lucca dell'anno 1260, in La decima degli anni 1274-1280 : con carta topografica delle diocesi nel sec. XIII, ms.131.
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