![](http://www.pontedilegno.it/img/c0b0cf25e69ca62c9289b8883e1ff471/w/900/h/540/thumb/512.jpg)
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.
![](http://www.pontedilegno.it/img/c0b0cf25e69ca62c9289b8883e1ff471/w/900/h/540/thumb/513.jpg)
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.