Villalvernia is a comune, population 932, in the Province of Alessandria in Piedmont, Italy, situated in a hilly area on the right bank of the Scrivia.

Villalvernia
Comune di Villalvernia
Location of Villalvernia
Map
Villalvernia is located in Italy
Villalvernia
Villalvernia
Location of Villalvernia in Italy
Villalvernia is located in Piedmont
Villalvernia
Villalvernia
Villalvernia (Piedmont)
Coordinates: 44°48′59″N 8°51′30″E / 44.81639°N 8.85833°E / 44.81639; 8.85833
CountryItaly
RegionPiedmont
ProvinceAlessandria (AL)
FrazioniCarezzano, Cassano Spinola, Pozzolo Formigaro, Tortona
Area
 • Total
4.63 km2 (1.79 sq mi)
Elevation
193 m (633 ft)
Population
 (2005)[2]
 • Total
941
 • Density200/km2 (530/sq mi)
DemonymVillaverniesi
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
15050
Dialing code0131
ISTAT code006183
Saint day7 October
WebsiteOfficial website

History

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Probably founded during the 10th century, and simply called Villa, the town was partially enfeoffed to the bishops of Tortona by Pope Adrian IV (Nicholas Breakspear). In 1413 Filippo Maria Visconti enfeoffed it to Guglielmo d'Alvernia. The village remained with the Alvernias for 167 years, which explains the "alvernia" part of the placename.

In 1580, after the wedding of Francesco with Antonia Alvernia, the feud passed to the Spinola family. In 1652 the feudatories obtained the title of Marquess from Philip IV, King of Spain.

On 1 December 1944, the village was bombed by the United States Air Force; 105 inhabitants were killed and 253 were injured.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  2. ^ All demographics and other statistics from the Italian statistical institute (Istat)
  3. ^ Marchese, Maria Teresa (2 December 2021). "Il bombardamento di Villalvernia 77 anni fa: "Importante mantenere vivo il ricordo"". La Stampa (in Italian). Retrieved 1 April 2023.