Trebbia Fluvial Park

The river area now protected by the park was the site of the most famous battle fought in the territory of Piacenza: The first Battle of Trebbia.

The story is accurately described in the tales of the historians Polybius and Titus Livius in the context of Second Punic War.*

The legions of the Roman consul Publius Cornelius Scipio, returning from the disastrous defeat had on the banks of the Ticino, had failed to block the advance of the Carthaginians and took refuge precipitously toward the newly Cologne of Piacenza, where they joined the reinforcements of Tiberius Sempronius Longo.

For his part Hannibal, being able to count on the support of local Celtic people, sacked the Casteggio area to camp near the Trebbia, now at early winter.

In cold weather it was customary to stop the fighting, waiting for the melting of the snow, but Tiberius galvanized by a series of minor victories on the southern front and small raids on rebel Celts, he decided of not listening to Scipio and prepared the troops for battle.

So it was that on 18 December of 218 BC in a day of “cold and eceptional snow” it came into a direct conflict between the two armies, in the area between the villages of Rivalta, Gossolengo, Tuna and Ancarano.

Hannibal, protected on the bank of Rivalta Trebbia, forced the Romans to cross the river first. Then, keeping his to refresh themselves in the warm of the camp until the last moment, he attacked the opponents and shivering and fasting in the open field. Finally the cavalry of his brother Magone, hidden in the dense woods of the riverbed, caught them behind forcing to flee. **

The Second Battle of Trebbia is at the begining of High Middle Ages (around 1000 years after Hannibal) when the death of Charlemagne decreed the establishment of the first Italian Kingdom, with Pavia capital. Despite this, the Franks weakened so much that the deposition of Charles the Big unleashed throughout the peninsula a tremendous succession struggle between local lords, the so-called Feudal Anarchy.

In this context Rivalta witnessed the battle on the banks of Trebbia the two major pretenders the crown: Berengarius of Friuli and Guido of Spoleto.

The battle took place again in winter, in early January, leading to disastrous defeat of Berengarius and the temporary consecration of Guido in King of Italy.

In the long term however this bloody episode did not produce peace and stability; Berengarius the same later became governor, sovereign and Emperor of the Kingdom, as far as to destroy the city of Pavia with the help of foreign mercenaries, before being assassinated and replaced by rival feudal lords. *

Territory of the “Four Provinces”, that is Apennine portion enclosed between the provinces of Genova, Piacenza, Alessandria and Pavia, took since ancient times a strategic importance for transit of goods, armies and pilgrims. *

Going along the southward Trebbia Valley meant reaching Genova, the most important port of Mediterranean, and the huge amount of goods that there came from all over the world: oil, wool, hides, leather, linen, hemp and the important salt for food preservation.

Over the centuries then was consolidated a system mule tracks and mountain passes under the direct control of the feudal guards and customs officers, known as “The Way of Salt”.

All this led guesthouses, inns, public sources and shops in passage centers, so Rivalta, halfway between the famous Ford of Sigeric on the River Po and the monastic center of Bobbio, developed commercial activities for travelers, becoming the true gateway to the valley.

Further 1000 years separate the medievals stories from Third Battle of Trebbia, when the old Russian general Suvorov, war hero decayed, marginalized and placed under state surveillance because of heavy criticism addressed to the Tsar, was recalled for service and placed at the head of the second anti-French coalition.

Profiting of absence of Napoleon, stopped in Egypt by the destruction of his fleet, Suvorov descended into Italy, recruiting a large number of volunteers to challenge the occupation troops.

Immediately liberateded Milan he moved to the South, for cutting the road to the reinforcements of French general Macdonald near Casaliggio, once again on the Trebbia river.

Here three days of the battle caused twelve thousand victims; coalition was victorius and French were crushed to Genova losing dominion over the entire Northern Italy.*

A sort of “modern legend” links the name of great American writer Ernest Hemingway the Trebbia waters.

It seems that during the passage of American troops in 1945, when the forty-five Hemingway at the peak of literary career roamed for Europe as a war correspondent, appeared in his journal the annotation: “Today I crossed the most beautiful valley in the world”

Even are handed down testimonies about a second trip by car, at conflict ended, for fishing trouts in the upper Trebbia and Aveto Valleys.

Sure is that the proverbial passion for fish and wine allowed the author to “Fiesta Mobile” to find along the banks river a bit of peace and serenity in the horribilis year of the capture of his son enlisted son, the divorce from his wife Martha, of umpteenth car accident and the appear of the first serious illnesses.