Castelnuovo Magra
Comune
Comune di Castelnuovo Magra
Castelnuovo Magra
Location of Castelnuovo Magra
Castelnuovo Magra Location of Castelnuovo Magra in Italy Show map of Italy Castelnuovo Magra Castelnuovo Magra (Liguria) Show map of Liguria
Coordinates: 44°6′N 10°1′E / 44.100°N 10.017°E / 44.100; 10.017
Country	Italy
Region	Liguria
Province	La Spezia (SP)
Frazioni	Colombiera, Molicciara, Palvotrisia, Vallecchia, Molino Del Piano
Government
• Mayor	Daniele Montebello
Area [1]
• Total	14.9 km2 (5.8 sq mi)
Elevation	190 m (620 ft)
Population  (31 December 2015)[2]
• Total	8,415
• Density	560/km2 (1,500/sq mi)
Demonym	Castelnovesi
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	19030
Dialing code	0187
Website	Official website

Castelnuovo Magra (Emilian: Castalnöu) is a commune in the Province of La Spezia, in the region of Liguria, located about 90 kilometres (56 mi) southeast of Genoa and about 15 kilometres (9 mi) east of La Spezia.

The municipality of Castelnuovo Magra contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Colombiera, Molicciara, Palvotrisia, Molino Del Piano and Vallecchia.

Castelnuovo Magra borders the following municipalities: Fosdinovo, Ortonovo, Sarzana.

The local dialect (referred to in Italian as Lunigianese or similar names) constitutes a variety of Emilian rather than Ligurian.

History

Roman presence is testified by ruins of a domus agricola (countryside estate) from imperial times. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it was held by the bishops of Luni; the name of the borough appears for the first time in a document from 1203.

The town was visited by Dante Alighieri on 6 October 1306, to end a long series of conflicts between the bishops of Luni and the Marquis Malaspina and opened a new course in local history.

The church of Santa Maria Maddalena in the town contains a Pieter Brueghel the Younger copy of The Crucifixion, believed to be a variation of an original by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The artwork was believed stolen in a raid on 13 March 2019, but it was revealed that Italian police, tipped off about the possibility of the planned theft, had replaced the painting with a copy in a sting operation.^[3]