Barbazzano and Portesone are two ghost towns in the province of La Spezia, on the hills of Lerici. The ruins of the two towns still exist. A panoramic path leads to them, amidst lush vegetation.
The ghost towns of Barbazzano and Portesone
The towns of Barbazzano and Portesone are located between the hills of Lerici and the slopes of Mount Caprione. It divides the Gulf of Poets from the Val di Magra. The location is at the extreme tip of Liguria, on the border with Tuscany. At least until the 16th century, historical documents recorded the existence of the village or castle of Barbazzano. The documentation of its history spans from 1189 to 1584. However, according to some scholars, the settlement dates back to the time of the ancient people of the Apuan Ligurians. The settlement’s proximity to the sea prevented Saracen pirates from destroying the coasts with their ships.
For this reason, the town offered valid protection from the more vulnerable coasts. The inhabitants lived thanks to trade with the nearby port of Lerici. Barbazzano was a village with an agricultural-pastoral vocation, but the inhabitants were also skilled sailors. Not far from it stood the village of Portesone.
The history of Barbazzano
The first mention of Barbazzano in historical documents dates back to 1189 and was a simple geographical indication. The actual “castrum” appeared in written sources, starting in 1274. However, it is possible to hypothesize the presence of a castle already at the beginning of the 13th century. In fact, some clues suggest the existence of a lordly domain and the presence of castles as centers of power.
The maximum period of development for Barbazzano dates back to the 13th century. The episcopal officials of the diocese of Luni administered the town at that time. The town was part of the defensive system of the eastern side of the Gulf of Poets. Due to its feudal obligations, Barbazzano was under the town of Ameglia. Even its small church of San Giorgio (which appears in historical sources from 1280) was part of Ameglia.
The strategic importance of Barbazzano
Since 1273, the strategic importance of Barbazzano has attracted the interest of the Republic of Genoa, which managed to conquer it. Only after long negotiations, in 1284, did the bishops of Luni regain the village. The village had to swear allegiance to the Genoese Republic after the battle of Meloria (6 August 1284), fought between Pisa and Genoa. The history of Barbazzano, therefore, was part of the struggles between Genoa and the Bishopric of Luni.
Crushed by these two forces and dragged into the long decline of the episcopal power of Luni, between the end of the 13th and the 16th centuries, the inhabitants of Barbazzano abandoned the village. They were looking for greater stability and moved to the nearby village of Tellaro. Until then, Tellaro had been a seaside town created to protect Barbazzano, coveted by pirates for its strategic importance and notable production of olive oil.
The abandonment
At the beginning of the fourteenth century, the struggles between Guelphs and Ghibellines handed over the entire territory of Ameglia and Barbazzano to the noble Genoese family of Doria. It then passed under the dominion of Castruccio Castracani degli Antelminelli, lord of Lucca. Finally, again to Genoa. There is no news of the village throughout the fifteenth century. Citations in documents began again at the beginning of the sixteenth century. At that time, Barbazzano was under the ownership of Tellaro, marking a significant shift from the medieval era when Tellaro relied on the village upstream.
Legend has it that pirates, specifically the Catalan Moors, destroyed Barbazzano on a Christmas night in the second half of the sixteenth century. Given that the tradition associated the Catalan Moors with pirates in general, it’s possible that the people who destroyed Barbazzano were actually the inhabitants of Portovenere. They were in fact famous infestors of the seas. Despite the renunciation of feudal rights in favor of Tellaro, the church of San Giorgio in Barbazzano remained active. Only at the end of 1500 did it close.
The modern age
The chronicles of the pastoral visits of 1584 describe Barbazzano in a complete state of abandonment. Barbazzano’s church and cemetery appear completely in ruins, with the parish functions transferred to Tellaro. Despite the various hypotheses surrounding the disappearance of Barbazzano, it does not seem that its end was sudden and violent. A spontaneous depopulation determined the gradual abandonment.
The inhabitants moved toward Tellaro due to political instability and the plague in 1348. The town was used for agricultural purposes until the 1970s of the last century. Today, some ruins remain. Even though vegetation has nearly consumed them, you can still visit them.
The ruins of Barbazzano
The structures that remain today in Barbazzano belong to two different construction and housing phases of the village. The first dates back to the period between the 13th and 14th centuries, and the second to a time span that goes from the 17th to the 19th century. The ruins of the square tower, 6-7 meters high, remain. Its front side is characterized by the access door to the village. Then, we see sections of walls that have a vague pentagonal shape, along with the remnants of a building known as the “captain’s house.” It retains a small portion of the roof with slate slabs.
Furthermore, we have preserved the remains of what was known as “the bishop’s house”. Originally, it was part of the defensive system of the village. Then it became a rural house and finally a tool shed. On the other hand, the ruins of the small church remain. Legends suggest the presence of hidden treasures within, despite the lack of discovery.
The Church of San Giorgio
Originally the church of San Giorgio, which today is located in the village of Tellaro, was in Barbazzano. Its first mention in historical sources dates back to 1280 (“l’ecclesia Sancti Georgii de Barbacano,” Codice Pelavicino). Then it appeared in the sources in 1296 (“Cappella de Barbassano”) and in 1299 (“Cappella de Barbacano”) as belonging to Ameglia. Like the rest of the town, its history remains obscure from the 14th to the 15th century. During that period, the land register of the Diocese of Luni only mentions it once, in 1470.
Despite the decline of Barbazzano, the chapel continued to perform its religious functions at least until the 16th century. In 1501, the seaside town of Tellaro appointed a rector, despite his direct transfer around the middle of the century. In fact, the documents of the pastoral visits of 1568 indicate that he resided in Tellaro and performed religious functions in the oratory of Santa Maria. Instead, San Giorgio di Barbazzano continued to administer baptisms until 1574.
The abandonment of religious functions
The same documents from the pastoral visits describe the appearance of the church during those years. Despite lacking a bell tower, the church boasted a Carrara marble baptismal font and three altars. Nearly abandoned was the surrounding cemetery. As mentioned, another twenty years passed, and in the chronicles of the pastoral visits of 1584, the entire place appeared completely abandoned. The church’s floor, walls, and roof had already sustained significant damage. The tombs in the cemetery appeared uncovered, with the bone remains scattered on the ground.
Following this, the church of San Giorgio underwent closure and deconsecration. From that point on, the chapel only appears in the tax documents from the Napoleonic period of 1812. From 1890 to 1904, it became a stable. The church still displays loopholes, a pointed arch portal, a Lucifer cross, and the hinges of the door, indicating its defensive purpose.
The Barbazzano Tower
The tower overlooks what was once the Barbazzano mule track. The tower, with its quadrangular plan, likely found its way into the village’s defensive walls. In the portal, which gave access to the village, the right jamb is visible. The battlements, still partially preserved, surrounded the top.
A document from 1280 mentions a tower as the location of a notarial deed’s signature. However, there is uncertainty about its identification with Barbazzano’s tower. It did not appear in the Napoleonic tax documents of 1812. In fact, the tower had completely lost its ancient functions. However, it remains a significant testimony of the medieval village of Barbazzano.
The history of Portesone
Next to Barbazzano, on the hills of Tellaro, there is another ghost town, Portesone. It was an ancient village of medieval origin and one of the largest feudal curtis (a type of medieval estate) of Ameglia. An easy path leads to the village, where you can visit its ruins. They appear better preserved than those of Barbazzano.
There are about fifteen buildings, probably built by the Genoese Doria lords, who owned the town for a long time. The name Portesone has a typically medieval etymology. It means “large manso.” The manso was a plot of land large enough to support a family of farmers. They cultivated it in exchange for the payment of rent, the delivery of a part of the harvest, and the performance of corvée for the owner.
The medieval and modern age
In the 16th century, Portesone suffered a serious plague epidemic. The surviving inhabitants abandoned the town to move to Barbazzano. However, Barbazzano was already in a state of decline and was nearly abandoned. Historical documents of the area repeatedly mention Portesone as a village with an agricultural-pastoral vocation. The description depicted it as a cluster of 15 houses constructed on a protruding rock layer.
Historical documents tell us that the most cultivated products in Portesone were figs, vines, and olives. We know from a document from 1125 that the bishop of Luni confirmed to the abbot of the Tino Monastery the possessions he had in Portesone. He also granted the use of water, pastures, and woods to the men who lived there.
The ruins of Portesone
The village of Portesone has a typical medieval structure. The buildings have two floors, the lower one used as a stable and the upper one as a dwelling. For defensive purposes, the houses had an entrance on the first floor, reachable by a wooden staircase. Instead of windows, they featured small slits. The roofs, covered with slate slabs, had no chimneys, testifying to the antiquity of the village.
This antiquity attests to the presence of humans dating back to the Apuan Ligurians, and possibly even earlier. The “cavanei”, typical stone buildings of this region, demonstrate this.
The cavanei
The cavanei are structures scattered along the paths that wind on Mount Caprione. They are small buildings composed of concentric layers of dry stones. Their function is unclear. There are various hypotheses. According to the ancient geographer Strabo, the cavanei were simply the homes of the Apuan Ligurians, and he describes them as “hovels made of opposing stones without mortar.”
Other research hypotheses interpret the cavanei as a type of sky observatory. A local dialect proverb confirms this function: “If you want to become an astronomer like Ptolemy, you must observe the moon inside a cavaneo.”Another dialect saying appears to be associated with a pagan cult: “ae menà dé cavanei se ghé da i fruti ciù bei” (The Maenads, deities associated with the cult of Bacchus, receive the best fruits of the cavanei).
All this is not a coincidence. In fact, archaeoastronomy phenomena affect the Caprione promontory. Here, in addition to important discoveries of megaliths, we have the famous phenomenon of the “golden butterfly.” It occurs at sunset during the summer solstice.
The trail to the ghost towns of Barbazzano and Portesone
The trail spans an hour and varies in altitude by 115 meters. This route follows the marked trails REL n 431 and 432 and has a difficulty level of E (in Italian E means “for hikers”).
The trail begins in Tellaro, originating from the main road next to the public gardens and near the Albergo Ristorante Miramare. It proceeds with slight ups and downs among the olive groves until the ruined village of Portesone. From here, continuing the path in the direction of Lerici, you arrive at the ruins of Barbazzano.
Ghost towns of Barbazzano and Portesone Gallery
Video ghost towns of Barbazzano and Portesone
Map of the ghost towns of Barbazzano and Portesone
Lerici weather
Meteo Lerici
