A little gem in the Taverone Valley
Coats of arms and doorways carved from the macigno sandstone of the Apennines, devotional marble bas-reliefs, even a painted maestà, a rare example of those delicate fresco images so common in centuries past. We are in Prota, in the Taverone Valley, within the municipality of Comano, on a plateau where you can still make out the old plots of land which, though small, provided this community with wheat, grains, and hemp, generous amounts of wine, and a bit of olive oil, while the nearby woods offered an abundance of chestnuts. Higher up, the meadows near Groppo San Pietro were well suited for hay production and livestock grazing.
In Prota, there is no parish church, but rather two oratories standing side by side. The older one, dedicated to Saint Genesius, was built in 1618, but in 1780 it was closed for worship due to its dilapidated state. It was rebuilt in 1914 “with the support of the people of Prota,” as stated in the inscription above the doorway, above which there is a beautiful marble bas-relief of the Annunciation either a reused piece or perhaps dating back to the original building.
The other oratory, with its grey silhouette, is dedicated to Saint Bartholomew; it is privately owned and was commissioned by the priest Alessandro Coppelli, inaugurated in 1728, as explained by the large medallion that crowns the stone doorway.
Prota’s most prosperous period was precisely between the 17th and 18th centuries; not by chance, the village is among the few mentioned in the Statutes of Groppo San Pietro from 1677. With Pietro Leopoldo’s reform in 1777, Prota became part of the new community of Fivizzano and it remained “Fivizzanese” until 1919, when the municipality of Comano was established.
This was a territory of considerable importance, lying along the trade routes between Lunigiana and the regions of Reggio and Modena. These Apennine passes were also frequently used by smugglers, who would change their routes from time to time alternating between the Linari path, easily accessible from Prota, and the one passing through Sassalbo.
Nearby you can find
Comano Castle, The Giant Bench of Comano, Comano Bridge, the Lagastrello Pass.
Lunigiana World thanks our friend Paolo Bissoli for the text about the village of Prota.
