The village
The village, built between hillside slopes, has hosted a Benedictine monastery from the early Middle Ages, with large estates in Val di Vara, later becoming an independent diocese. It is considered one of the most important centres of Val di Vara thanks to its historical tradition and for the monumental buildings still existing. The ancient centre, built with an elongated annular structure, preserves Renaissance stone gates. It gravitates around the parish church of Saints Peter, Lawrence and Colombano, with an ancient basilica reconstructed in the eighth century by the Benedictine monks as abbey church. The nearby Episcopal Palace dates back to the previous century, included in the visit of the Diocesan Museum, housed in the palace. The origins of the name derive from the word “susino” (plum), finding it depicted in the heraldic coat of arms of the Municipality: in the current dialectal form, in fact, Brigna precisely indicates the fruit of the plum tree.
The history
The Benedictine monks of Saint Colombano, coming from Bobbio, founded a monastery subject directly to the Holy See and we find traces of it in a diploma written by Charles the Fat in the 19th century. Soon, thanks to numerous donations, the monastery became flourishing and influential, together with the cathedral of Saints Peter, Lawrence and Colombano, founded in the eleventh century and restored in the Baroque period. The medieval village is located in a strategic position in Val Vara, an ancient crossroads of roads that connected the coast to the hinterland, from which you can easily reach both the Apennines and the most important cities of the coast. The church and the monastery were for a long time the daily life centres of the place, buildings closely linked to political and religious developments of the early Middle Ages, with the important bishops of Luni. The archaeological excavations have brought to light numerous findings, including Roman walls and remains of a primitive cemetery foundation dating back to the Byzantine age, assignable to the 6th century. The current Romanesque church, divided into two naves, recovers the original space of the two previous foundations and a series of columns supporting round arches that create an impressive scenic effect. Above one of them, we can admire a relief with vegetal decorations probably reused from the previous building. Painted on one of the two columns there is a fresco dating back to 1400, depicting Saint Anthony the Abbot, by popular tradition considered Saint Colombano. On the external walls, some early medieval finds are visible, and at the end of the central nave, there is a wooden Crucifix dated to the sixteenth century. In the oratory of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux we can admire an interesting painting by Gian Lorenzo Bertolotto, dated to the seventeenth century. Brugnato also has a valuable bishop's palace, which has become one of the three branches of the Diocesan Museum in the province of La Spezia. The other two, still under preparation, are located respectively in the capital and in Sarzana. The building has been completely restored, recovering numerous spaces, including the bishop's lodgings, rooms with shrines and sacred objects of various kinds. Below it, archaeological excavations that have highlighted the remains of the ancient walls of the abbey, dating back to 1100, are visible. Like every year, on Easter Monday, the inhabitants of the village gather near the sanctuary, where they celebrate the Madonna of the Olive Tree, immersed in the beauty of a rural landscape between chestnut and olive trees. The building was built for popular devotion in the eighteenth century.
