Lomellina

The Lomellina (Western Lombard: Ümlína/Lümelína) is a geographical and historical area in the Pianura Padana (Po River's valley) of northern Italy, located in south-western Lombardy between the Sesia, Po and Ticino rivers. It is one of three areal divisions of the Province of Pavia.

Geography

Lomellina includes 58 comuni (municipalities), the most important today being Vigevano and Mortara; the name however derives from its ancient capital Lomello. The area is particularly renowned for its rice paddies: the crop has been cultivated here since the sixteenth century.

History

In ancient times Lomellina was inhabited by the Ligurian tribes of the Laevi, and the Marici (co-founders of Ticinum, the modern Pavia) and the Libici (founders of Vercelli). Later they were Romanized. Although crossed by an important road connecting Ticinum to Augusta Taurinorum (the modern Turin), the region seems not to have been intensively urbanized under the Romans, with the exception of the area of Vigevano.