Diocese of Pontremoli

Pontremoli, Diocese of (Apuan), in Tuscany, central Italy. The city rises on the skirts of the Appennino della Cisa, at the confluence of the Macra and the Torrente Verde. It has a beautiful cathedral and a notable tower Torre del Comune, erected in 1322 by Castruccio Castracane. The earliest historical mention of Pontremoli is of 1077. In 1110 it was taken by Henry V. In 1167 it opposed the progress of Frederick Barbarossa. As a Ghibelline commune, it acclaimed the former Lord of Lucca, Castruccio degli Antelminelli, its lord, in 1316. Thereafter, it was successively under the rule of the Rossi of Parma, of Mastino della Scala (1336), of the Visconti (1339); and from the latter date, with the exception of a few intervals, it belonged to the Duchy of Milan. In 1650 the Spaniards sold it to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and in 1847 it was united to the Duchy of Parma. Charles VIII burned the city. In 1799 there was a battle there between the French and the Austro-Russian armies, and in 1814 the Austrians drove the French from the town. Pontremoli was the birthplace of the soldier Girolamo Reghini, who distinguished himself in the service of Spain in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; also of the painter Pedroni (eighteenth century), director of the Accademia di Belle Arti of Florence. The episcopal see, suffragan of Pisa, was erected in 1797, its first prelate being Girolamo Pavesi. Msgr. Fiorini is the present bishop. It has 126 parishes, with 60,000 inhabitants; 204 secular, 9 regular priests; 361 churches or chapels; 3 religious houses of men, and 6 of women; 2 educational institutes for boys and 3 for girls.

U. BENIGNI