The vicinie

the past

The vicinia (the institution formed by the townspeople) oversaw all of the communal properties: fields, meadows, mills and sawmills, and also the purchase and distributions of basic goods such as the salt, once a high-valued good in the alpine area; to this day the vicinia of Ponte di Legno distributes every year two kilos of it to each of its members.

the present

Suppressed by Napoleone in 1806 and their properties seized by the newly-born comuni, today the vicinie are still active in the villages of Poia, Ponte and Zoanno.