Archaeological Area of Sorano in Filattiera
The stories of the Ligurian Apuans, Roman merchants, warriors, pilgrims and feudal nobles intertwine in one of the most fascinating places in Lunigiana
The medieval village of Filattiera in Lunigiana has been a junction of ancient roads since antiquity and within it there are infinite traces of the evolution of human presence in Val di Magra: the stories of ancient Ligurian Apuans, Roman merchants, Byzantine and Lombard warriors, medieval pilgrims and feudal nobles intertwine in one of the most fascinating places in all of Lunigiana, the Archaeological Area of Sorano.
Sorano is perhaps unique in Italy, thanks to the research started over 40 years ago by the great Tiziano Mannoni and carried out by the Institute off Material Culture of Genoa and the Archaeological Superintendence with the techniques of so-called global archaeology.
The Romanesque Parish Church of Sorano
The heart of the area is still the Parish Church of Sorano, built along the Via Francigena between the 11th and 12th centuries. A visit to the church and the surrounding areas allows you to understand the transformations of the human settlement over the centuries, thanks to didactic panels and casts of prehistoric Stele Statues.
The "Archaeology in Filattiera" Exhibition
A few steps from the parish church, is the "Tiziano Mannoni" Documentation and Educational Production Center, inside which the "Archaeology in Filattiera" exhibition, inaugurated in October 2023, is set up: the exhibition, curated by the archaeologist Enrico Giannichedda, brings together some of the most significant finds discovered during the numerous excavation campaigns conducted in recent decades in the Sorano area and throughout the surrounding area.
After the unearthing of several stele statues and the discoveries made in the early twentieth century, archaeological research led to investigation of the site of San Giorgio and the village of Filattiera (1981-82), the area behind the cemetery of Sorano (1986-95), the site of Monte Castello (1987 and 1994), the Parish Church of Santo Stefano di Sorano (1996-1999) and the Ligurian necropolis of Quartareccia (2003).
The display cases at the exhibition contain almost six thousand years of history: from the mysterious prehistoric Stele Statues, the Iron Age Celtic-Ligurian cinerary urns and the fire and table dishware of the Roman road station to the weapons of the medieval sentries; there are also coins, keys, fishing and hunting tools, bell casting pits and even mysterious objects, the function of which has not yet been recognized.
An exciting journey, made up of everyday objects that narrate the life of communities, including customs, age-old traditions and epochal transformations.
The exhibition can be visited by reservation: info@sigeric.it / 3318866241
