Bobbio

Bobbio is a small town and commune in the province of Piacenza in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. It is located in the Trebbia River valley southwest of the town Piacenza. There is also an abbey and a diocese of the same name. Bobbio is the administrative center of the Comunità Montana Appennino Piacentino.

Bobbio is located in the heart of Val Trebbia, a valley described by Ernest Hemingway as "the most beautiful in the world". The town is nestled at the foot of Monte Penice (1,460 m.), on the left bank of the river Trebbia. Its history is identified with the Abbey founded in 614 by St. Columbanus, and as a result it became one of the principal centers of religious culture in medieval Italy, home to a famous library and basilica. The possessions of the abbey in the Lombard and Carolingian eras spanned the north of Italy. Bobbio is a coveted tourist destination known for its history of art and culture, for nature lovers, and for its ancient monuments. It has from antiquity been a crossroads between different cultures such as the Piacentine, Ligurian, Piedmontese, and Pavian. The historical center and heart of the city has maintained the characteristics of the medieval village. One town landmark, the Ponte Vecchio, called Ponte Gobbo (Hunchback Bridge), also known as the Devil's Bridge, is an ancient stone bridge of Roman origin, which crosses the river Trebbia in eleven irregular arches. The Shrine of Our Lady of Penice, located on top of Monte Penice, dominates the landscape, and is also popular in winter for its ski resorts. Historians have speculated that Bobbio was the town in which Leonardo da Vinci completed the Mona Lisa. Carla Glori in December 2011 has published her book "Enigma Leonardo:decifrazioni e scoperte" where the background of the portrait has been identified as the landscape of Bobbio.