Colle di Compito explained

Colle di Compito
Coordinates:43.7692°N 10.5944°W
Province:Lucca (LU)
Comune:Capannori
Elevation M:36
Postal Code:55062
Area Code:(+39) 0583

Colle di Compito (also Colle di Cómpito) is a frazione of Capannori in the province of Lucca region of Tuscany in Italy.

Geography

Colle di Compito lies approximately 7 km south of the town of Capannori, 10 km south-east of the provincial capital Lucca and 55 km west of the regional capital Florence. The hamlet lies on a foothill north of the Monte Pisanino not far from the southeastern lake Lago di Bientina (Lago di Sesto, municipality of Bientina) and the plain of Piana Lucchese.[1] [2] Colle di Compito is situated northwest of Castelvecchio di Compito, and southeast of Pieve di Compito, its neighbouring settlements and administrative frazioni.

History

The place first arose from several smaller settlements (Borghi) before the Castrum Novum Castle was built in the Locality of Lecci above today's town center, which is called Borghetto. Another fortified complex was built from the Borghetto, parts of which are still in place, along with a city gate. At that time the town belonged as a fief to the Lambercioni family from Vorno (today also a hamlet of Capannori), close to the Republic of Pisa. In a conflict between Lucca and Pisa, the town was occupied and destroyed by Lucca in 1148. After the reconstruction by the Lambercioni, the hamlet remained in the sphere of influence of Lucca until, in 1313, it was ransacked by Uguccione della Faggiola, who was in the pay of Pisa. Colle di Compito was last damaged in 1544 by Pisan and Florentine troops. After that, the place remained in the sphere of influence of Lucca.

In 1942, during World War II, a prisoner-of-war camp was established in the village. Its official number was P.G. (prigionieri di guerra) 60,[3] and it was usually referred to as PG 60 Lucca.[4] Although it never had permanent structures and accommodation consisted of tents in an area prone to flooding, it housed more than 3,000 British and Commonwealth prisoners of war during the period of its existence. It was handed over to the Germans on 10 September 1943, not long after the signing of the Italian armistice. During the Italian Social Republic, as a puppet state of the Germans, political prisoners, foreigners, common law prisoners and Jews were interned there, and it functioned as a concentration camp. In June 1944 the prisoners were moved to Bagni di Lucca.[3]

Sights

Literature

External links

Notes and References

  1. Contado Lucchese: I borghi di Capannori. Colle di Compito.
  2. Emanuele Repetti: Colle di Compito. In: Dizionario Geografico Fisico Storico della Toscana (1833–1846).
  3. Book: Angelini, Silvia Q.. Megargee . G.P. . White . J.R. . The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933–1945, Volume III: Camps and Ghettos under European Regimes Aligned with Nazi Germany. Colle di Compecito. Indiana University Press . 2018 . 978-0-253-02386-5 . https://books.google.com/books?id=8nBTDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA421 . 26 May 2020 . 421.
  4. Web site: Ill-treatment of prisoners of war at Camp PG 60, Lucca, Italy, July to November 1942 . The National Archives . 2008-12-18 . 26 May 2020 .
  5. http://www.chieseitaliane.chiesacattolica.it/chieseitaliane/schedaca.jsp?sercd=79393 Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta
  6. http://www.chieseitaliane.chiesacattolica.it/chieseitaliane/schedaca.jsp?sercd=79361 Oratorio di Maria Santissima della Consolazione
  7. http://www.piccolapenna.it/Palaiola.htm Circolo culturale Piccola Penna: San Martino di Palaiola (anticamente:Palaia)