Bobbio - Main Sights

Main Sights

• The Saint Columbanus Abbey: Open to the public the long ground floor corridor, the main cloister; the service yard; the Abbey Museum, recently restored and enlarged, collects remarkable works and art objects of Roman, Medieval and Renaissance Age, and Town Museum is a sort of didactic journey, whose admittance is from the southern wing of the cloister, the only one that guards the original portico.

• Saint Columbanus Basilica: Built between 1456 and 1522 on the remains of the proto-Romanesque church of the tenth century. Frescos in the nave are by Bernardino Lanzani from the town San Colombano al Lambro (1527); the remarkable wooden choir in the Gothic style is dated 1488. In the crypt: a twelfth century floor mosaic; Saint Columbanus' marble sarcophagus made by Giovanni de Patriarchi (1480); two marble pluteos used as tombstones of Saint Attala and Saint Bertulf; and a beautiful twelfth century wrought iron gate.

• The Old Bridge: the 280 metre long Ponte Vecchio ("Old Bridge"), which spans the Trebbia by means of eleven unequal arches, is known to have existed before 1196 and may be of Roman origin. From its curious and irregular shape it is commonly called the ‘Hunchback Bridge’; also the ‘Devil’s Bridge’ after many legends: the famous legend tells that it was built by the Devil in one night after he made a pact with Saint Columbanus who promised him the soul of the first passerby; but when the bridge was finished the Irish Saint sent a dog. The other legend is in which a man tricks Satan into rebuilding it overnight after it has been destroyed by a flood. In reality the bridge did need to be reconstructed after flood damage in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
• The Malaspina-Dal Verme Castle

Begun by Corradino Malaspina in 1304 on the hill overlooking the town, it remained for the duration of his rule a Ghibelline stronghold. Today it is a square-plan keep, two minor service towers and the defensive walls. By the castle affords a good view over the town and the surrounding countryside. In 1800, under the name of Castello Bobbium, the property and marquessate were purchased by the Piccinini family of Emilia-Romagna, who possessed them until 1956 when the castle and land was ceded by the Piccinini to the Italian State.

• The Castellaro

The old historic quarter under the castle and the park.

• The Cathedral

Built in 1075, is the main religious edifice of the city. It has two majestic towers, which are original in the lower parts. The façade is from 1463 (the date in which a portico was demolished), with three portals in Gothic style. The cathedral presents modern decoration in the three naves and an eighteenth-century decoration in the presbytery and on the transept dome. Through the right transept you can reach Saint John chapel where there is a splendid fresco of the second half of the fifteenth century representing the Annunciation. The crypt houses the tombs of the bishops of Bobbio, and the chapel of Saint Antonio Maria Gianelli, bishop of Bobbio.

On the right side is the Palazzo Vescovile ("Bishop's Palace", 11th century), partially renewed in 1448; there are also the garden of cathedral.

On the left side is the Bobbio historical archives: sited into the premises of the Old Seminary, founded in the mid of the 12th century, they keep precious parchments and fragments of ancient codes dated from 9th century to 15th century. Available on microfilm the reproduction of all documents referred to Bobbio.

• Saint Francis' church and Monastery: built according to the unrefined 13th century Saint Francis style. The monastery maintained the original shape while the church was rebuilt at the beginning of the 18th century in baroque style. Worth of mention is the beautiful inner cloister with squat pillars that sustain four crossvault covered spans on each side and over which runs a wooden loggia with precious medieval capitals columns.

• Saint Lawrence church: built probably in the 12th century it was enlarged during the 17th century. Still visible on the left side are parts of the ancient building while on the right outer wall are two tablets also from the previous church.

• The Virgin Mary's Help Sanctuary: it encloses the remains of the 15th century church decorated with a miraculous image of the Virgin Mary. In 1611 it was said to have dripped sweat from the forehead. It was given the present baroque classical style in 1641.

Two museums are located within the abbey complex, one devoted to the abbey and one to the town. Among the exhibits is a much admired carved ivory "bucket" of the fourth century AD.

• The Abbey Museum: It collects remarkable works and art objects of Roman, Medieval and Renaissance Age. Of Roman period: the Cocceia family sarcophagus, four cinerary urns, a pagan altar dedicated to Diana and an alabaster Hydra dating back to 3rd century. Other noteworthy pieces are the longobard stones, the Saint Cumiano tombstone (8th century), tin votive ampullae, the Orpheus ivory shrine and the wrought silver Saint Colunbanus bust. In the picture gallery a polyptyc by Luini representing the Assumption.

• The Town Museum: sited in the ancient refectory and service room, is a didactic journey through the history of Bobbio and can be a sort of introduction to all the other historical places of the town. The first section is dedicated to the life and works of the Irish Saint, while the second section looks at the monastic complex from an architectonic point of view, on a computer runs a program for a virtual visit of the building, but it is also about the famous Scriptorium that made Bobbio the greatest cultural centre of northern Italy. The dressing made of light and transparent supports completed by multimedial means is perfectly integrated with the monumental space of the monastery and its educational aim.

• The monastery of Santa Chiara and Palazzo Comunale.

• The ex Saint Nicolas' Church.

• The ancient Palaces Bobbiensis: Malaspina (10 into the map), Tamburelli, Olmi (9), Alcarini (5) (with the Teodolinda house), Calvi, etc.

• The Therm of Bobbio.

• The Carlone Valley with the thermal waterfall with thermal springs near the ancient middle ages village San Cristoforo and the old escursonistic Sentiero medioevale per il Santuario del Monte Penice: 5 km. from Bobbio.