The Name
Originally the name was Aprumacum, deriving from prunus, or “plum tree”, which in dialect is called Brigne.
Brugnato indicates the presence of this fruit, which still grows naturally on the plains.

History
working in progress
THE CATHEDRAL OF SMALL SEVERE FACES
Surrounded by the natural scenery of the Montemarcello-Magra park, the secret home of herons, Brugnato lies on the banks of the river Vara, where rocks to make lime and wood for the fires was collected when the village was still enclosed within its circular moat.
The aerial photos allow you to distinguish the elliptical shaped centre which was built as a fortified hamlet around the bishop citadel.
Historically Brugnato was founded during the first half of the twelfth century, when the village became an episcopate and the Cathedral was built. The building has two aisles divided by columns and was built on the remains of two pre-existing churches, the oldest of which is under the current main nave and dates back to the Byzantine period (sixth century).
Three severe rough stone faces representing Saints Peter, Lorenzo and Colombano, who the cathedral is dedicated to, are in the apse and are there to drive out malign spirits.
On the third column there is a fifteenth-century fresco depicting Sant’Antonio Abate,which can identified by his mantle and hermit’s stick, some think he is San Colombano.
Recent restoration has brought to light, on the wall of the aisle, a valuable sixteenth-century fresco depicting the Presentazione di Gesù al Tempio (“The presentation of Jesus in the temple”). Glass placed in the modern flooring allow you to see the archaeological site below: under the main nave there are the ruins of the first Benedictine settlement, a church with one nave of which only the walls, the brickwork flooring and the baptismal font remain.
Since 1133, and for several centuries, the Episcopal Palace, built on the site of the Abbey of San Colombano, next to the cathedral, was the residential home of bishops.
The building has undergone several changes, such as those in Baroque style by Bishop Giovan Battista Paggi, made between 1655 and 1663. Today this Palace houses the Diocesan Museum.
Popular devotion was directed towards the oratories. The one at the beginning of the village, near Porta Soprana, is now dedicated to San Bernardo and is home to the Brotherhood of the same name. It probably arose as a place of prayer for the pilgrims housed in the nearby hospice dedicated to Sant’Antonio. Only a beautiful sandstone portal remains of the Oratory of Saints Rocco and Caterina, near Porta Sottana, on the eastern side of the old city,.
Among the bishops of the diocese of Brugnato between the fourteenth and fifteenth century were at least four Franciscan friars, but the Franciscan order was only authorized to build a monastery in this village in 1603: the monastery with the Church of San Francesco was completed in 1635.
In 1843 the convent and church both went under the control of the barefooted clerics called the Passionisti, an order founded by San Paolo della Croce.
In the hills, a few kilometres away from the village, the Sanctuary of Nostra Signora dell’Ulivo, stems from one of the many oratories that the monks of Brugnato built in order to pray and officiate during the day; the current building dates back to the seventeenth century.
Piazza Maggiore, Piazza San Pietro, the Romanesque apses, together with its atmosphere also make your stay pleasant in Brugnato.
Finally you must see the Romanesque bridge over the river Vara, probably of Roman origins it was the link between the Apennines and the sea, along the early medieval road that led from Pontremoli to Sestri Levante.

Local Products
Bakeries sell both the famous canestrello di Brugnato, a soft cake made from a sugary dough and flavoured with fennel, and the lesser known cavagnetto that is typical at Easter, it is a ring-shaped cake with handles, like a small chest (hence its name in ligurian), with a hard boiled egg in the centre.
Local dishes
working in progress