History and culture: Slate, Landscape, Peasant life

The land under the earth and the land under the sky

Symbiosis between Agriculture and Mining

The main character of the agricultural landscape in the Cogorno-Lavagna basin derives from the perfect integration between agriculture and extractive activity, achieved by the quarrymen-farmers, professionals who never forgot that they were, first of all, farmers. The peasant culture remained dominant, and the mining activity had to adapt, demonstrate that it knew how to coexist, that it was useful.

The Scattered Settlement of the Olive Groves

The southern slope of Mount San Giacomo is in fact covered with olive trees and densely populated, characterized by that scattered settlement typical of Tigullini olive groves. The slate layers crossed it from the base to the ridge, intersecting crops, houses, waterways and roads. The long history of slate extraction, dating back to times in which the peasant population was much smaller than that of the nineteenth century, makes us understand that the agricultural landscape had to change together (and as a consequence) with the extraction activity, using everything what it could provide that was useful.

The Growth of the Landscape Underground and Above Ground

As the volume of excavations grew underground, shapes and volumes grew and changed on the surface. Bands, casún, streets, houses, churches, oratories, chapels, courtyards, hanging threshing floors, oil mills and border walls were born: all of slate. It was as if two countries developed symmetrically, one of pain and darkness under the earth and one of toil and light under the sky.

Slate: An integral part of the landscape

There is as much slate in Cogorno as there is sand in a desert, yet the landscape is not dominated or oppressed by it, thanks to the non-colour that the stone takes on over time, due to its humble nature which makes it camouflage with the ivy, the moss, grass, olive trees, vines and chestnut trees. The quarries produced not only ciápe but also landscape and slate influenced the lives of everyone for better or worse: men, women, quarrymen and farmers.

Sources

Porcella M., “Gli uomini dell’ardesia”, in Centro di Documentazione della Civica Biblioteca di San Colombiano Certenoli (a c. di), “L’ardesia della Fontanabuona e le sculture di Pietro Burzi”, Chiavari, Grafica Piemme, 2017, collana “Quaderni del Lascito Cuneo”

Trekking and cycling routes that may interest you

Itineraries of different durations and suitable for every taste and level of preparation, to discover the most beautiful and evocative places and panoramas of the Ligurian Tigullio.