A Fariy-tale Village
The village of Virgoletta is located in the municipality of Villafranca and was once known as the “Verrucola dei Corbellari.” It is a narrow, elongated settlement that follows the ridge of the hill, enclosed to the north by the imposing mass of the castle-palace, which later came under the rule of the Malaspina family.
At the center of the village stands the Church of Saints Gervasius and Protasius, along with its bell tower, which, as a plaque informs us, is 31 meters high and was restored in 1953.
The parish church preserves the relics of the two martyrs, which arrived here in the 17th century and are preserved in the altar-reliquary. The church also houses other artistic treasures, including a beautiful marble altarpiece depicting the Madonna enthroned with the Child, flanked by the patron saints. This refined work, created in the 15th century, is attributed to an unknown “Master of Virgoletta,” the author of other works found in Lunigiana’s churches.
The entire village presents itself almost like a treasure chest. As soon as you enter through the gate facing Villafranca, you come across the maestà placed in 1636 “for his devotion” by Andrea Rossi, who entrusted his prayers to Saint Roch and the Virgin with Child.
From here to the castle, a succession of medieval-style houses, featuring sandstone portals, often elegant, that highlight that commeracial past that the village had during the Middle Ages.
An elaborate 16th-century coat of arms, made of marble and oval in shape, informs us that the castle once belonged to the Malaspina of Spino Secco. However, it was not always so; located on the left bank of the Magra River, it originally depended on the fief of Filattiera, held by the Malaspina of Spino Fiorito, following the division of 1221. By the dawn of the 14th century, the village was already the property of the Marquis of Villafranca (therefore, of Spino Secco), to whom it was definitively ceded by the Marquis of Olivola in 1355.
The village has an ancient connection with the Corbellari family, who received it from the Obertenghi long before the arrival of the Malaspina: that Verrucola “Corbellariorum” (to distinguish it from the one of the Bosi in Fivizzano) would over the centuries become Verrucoletta and, later, Virgoletta.
Nearby you con find
The Village of Filetto, the Village of Villafranca, the Village of Bagnone, the Village of Malgrate, The Filetto Forest, Malgrate Castle, Bagnone Castle.
Lunigiana World thanks our friend Paolo Bissoli for the text about the village of Virgoletta.
