Filattiera

Around the year 540, Belisario, a general of the emperor Giustiniano, decided to build a fortification northern of the Roman town of Luni, to defend themselves from the Goti who where invading Italy directed to Rome. This was probably the first settlement from where the village of Filattiera developed. The area was for sure inhabited since previous time by the Ligurian Apuan people, then by the Romans, Byzantines, Longbards and finally, during the Middle Ages, it became one of the main fiefdoms of the Malaspina family. Along the main road, once the medieval pilgrimage route Via Francigena, is the beautiful Romanesque Church of Sorano. The first settlement dating to the Roman and Byzantine period was in the valley floor where the Parish church is, whereas the historic centre of the village that we see today was built in the Middle Ages, first with the St.George’s Church, previously a defensive fortification, then the Malaspina Castle, today privately owned.
Some important traces of these past times have been found in this area and witness the passage of all these ancient peoples. For example in the parish church of Sorano two original stele statues (sandstone statues sculpted into male and female figures by the Ligurian Apuan people in the prehistoric era) have been found and here preserved. Also, a memorial stone dating to the Longbard period and stating the spread of Christianity, has been found in this church and today kept in the St.George’s church.