Aulla

Aulla is a comune in the province of Massa and Carrara, Tuscany (central Italy).

History

Traces of Roman and Etruscan civilizations found in the Church of Saint Caprisio indicate that there were settlements in Aulla long before the 8th century CE, when margrave Adalbert I of Tuscany founded a village and built a castle to accommodate pilgrims traveling the via Francigena. Here, at Aguilla Sigeric, Archbishop of Canterbury, sojourned on his return journey from Rome about 990. The Malaspina family wrested feudal power of the city and its contada from the domination of the bishops and dukes of Luni. In 1543 the Centurione family purchased it. They built the Fortress Brunella, which was bought in the early 20th century by Lina Waterfield, and remains privately owned, functioning as a museum of natural history for the Lunigiana region. One of the most important buildings of the town is the Abbey of San Caprasio that was founded in the 8th Century and was named by Saint Caprasius of Lérin, whose body was transferred to Aulla in the 10th century.