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THE CITY OF VALENZA

Valenza, although it is only a town council of 20.000 inhabitants, can be considered one of the most important centres of the province of Alessandria. Thinking of gold, not only in our province, but in Italy, means also thinking of Valenza at an international level, since it is famous for the goldsmiths’ handicraft that boomed at the beginning of the last century. To say the truth, already before Valenza was known for the auriferous sands of the Po that were, still some decades ago, “winnowed at the sieve” by some searchers.

Situated on a terrace that leans out on the Po at an altitude of 125 m. on the sea level, Valenza, in the course of the centuries, has been subjected to various populations. The first city nucleus, probably created by Ligurian tribes, had origin around the X century BC. Submitted later on by the Romans (the name derives from the roman term “Forum Fulvii Valentinum”), shortly became flourishing and created a compact centre. The popular tradition attributes the merit of this foundation to San Massimo saying that the location of the houses would have been placed where a dove, set free, would have leaned on: such a place still today exists and is called “Colombina”. It is likely, in truth, than this location was decided by the inhabitants in order to guarantee an emergency escape way in case of raids by the Barbarians.

During the medieval age, Valenza knew a long period of independence during which a remarkable flourishing of trade was experienced thanks to the positioning of the city on the river: this position allowed its inhabitants to get touch with the most active cities of that period. In the second half of the XVI century, it had to give its autonomy in to the Sire of Milan.

Starting from the half of the XIX century, despite the crash against the Fascists (the socialist Giusto Calvi was elected deputy just in Valenza in 1905), the city paved its way for the industrial development, becoming one of the most important centres for the working of the gold and of the precious stones. This commenced at the end of the XIX century, when Vincenzo Melchiorre, returning from Paris, get started with producing jewels in gold and precious stones.

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