Ghedi
Ghedi is an Italian comune with a population of 18,516 inhabitants, located in the Province of Brescia in Lombardy. It is located in the eastern Lower Brescian Plain and is crossed by the Naviglio di Brescia canal.
The town is renowned for being home to the 6th Wing of the Italian Air Force, along with Ghedi Air Base, where the Brescia Ghedi weather station is also located.
Physical geography
Territory
Ghedi is situated within the Po Valley and features minimal hilly relief, being predominantly flat. It is geographically positioned in the eastern Lower Brescian Plain, thus not far from the Province of Cremona and the Province of Mantua; it covers a total area of about 60 km2, with a maximum elevation of 85 m above sea level.According to the conventional seismic classification, Ghedi falls into zone 2, particularly following the 2004 Salò earthquake. This classification was updated after the resolution of the Regional Council of Lombardy on July 11, 2014, no. 2129, which officially entered into force on April 10, 2016.
Climate
The climate of Ghedi generally aligns with that of rural centers in the upper Po Valley: falling under climate classification E with 2,570 degree days, it is characterized by a humid and temperate climate: warm and muggy in summer, but cold and harsh in winter, with widespread fog and occasional snowfall in the coldest months.Origin of the name
The origin of the toponym Ghedi remains a subject of debate and uncertainty:- Monsignor Antonio Fappani, in his Brescian Encyclopedia, suggests that it may derive from the name Gut, comparable to the Gothic heritage and similar to Godi; another hypothesis traces it to the Lombard term gaida, meaning "arrow," alluding to the piece of land in which Ghedi is enclosed, between the course of the Chiese and the lower Naviglio di Brescia.
- According to recent studies by Raffaele Castrichino, the modern toponym instead derives from the Latin term vadum, synonymous with 'ford' or 'passage':
History
Ancient era
No traces or artifacts dating to the pre-Roman period have been found in the Ghedi territory: this indicates that settlements prior to Roman colonization, excluding the isolated presence of some vicus, did not affect the Ghedi countryside; nevertheless, the distinctly Gallic nature of the Ghedi settlement persisted even during the processes of so-called "Romanization" of the Brescian territory: votive tablets datable between the 1st century BC and the 3rd century AD are dedicated to deities such as Mercury and Hercules, associable with deities of Gallic culture, such as Teutates and Ogmios. The Gallic matrix also persists in the onomastics of the original inhabitants, enduring for a long time thereafter:Roman archaeological sites have been uncovered near the Ghedi countryside: on the border between Leno and Ghedi, in 1895 and 1897, seven tombs were found with various grave goods, such as coins, ampoules, and finely crafted glass vases, possibly evidence of a vicus or villa with servants. In 1926, another area of interest was identified at "Cascina Santi," on the road to Viadana, perhaps corresponding to a large Roman villa: fragments of opus signinum floors and mosaics with still-legible inscriptions indicated its presence, along with heating systems, which disappeared or were destroyed. On the same road, in the locality of Alberello, stood the rural site of Formignano or Forminiano which was destroyed only later, in 1265, its toponym certainly of Roman origin. Furthermore, another epigraph dedicated to the god Hercules and found in Ghedi reads:
The Ghedi territory, in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, followed the dynamics of the rest of the empire: land plots were damaged by barbarian invasions, and climate changes between 450 and 550 AD negatively impacted the geography of the Po Valley, now completely transformed and dominated by forests and marshes.
Medieval era
The rise of the Lombards was followed by the development of a small rural center; this was also possible thanks to the territorial administration exercised by the monks of the Leno Abbey, founded by King Desiderius in 758. The archaic name of the settlement Gide is written for the first time in a charter dated October 12, 843, preserved at the Biblioteca Queriniana in Brescia: the document in question is a sales contract, drawn up in Gonzaga, then Gaudenciaga, among individuals whose names highlight the presence, in the village of that time, of a population of Lombard origin.The oldest nucleus of the village developed around a modest fortified enclosure, which later formed the future Castle of Ghedi, the site called "castle": the ancient enclosure contained some modest shacks and the primitive early Christian pieve and, starting from the Early Middle Ages, the municipal palace; only from the 14th century onward, with the expansion of the settlement and the development of the castle, did residential buildings appear outside the walls. Thus, the traditional four boroughs or quarters were formed: Bassina, Gazzolo, Borgonuovo, and Malborgo. Connected by a network of intricate narrow streets, they gave the settlement the characteristic appearance of a rounded medieval village, surrounded by moats called sarche, later filled in and turned into streets. The defensive wall was destroyed multiple times due to sieges and the numerous disputes in the medieval era between neighboring communes, and thus rebuilt several times to counter increasingly powerful weaponry. The medieval walls were demolished at the end of the 19th century and in the first half of the 20th century, to optimize urban spaces and create the future Piazza Roma. The southern part of the walls, including some medieval shacks, was demolished to make way for the former elementary schools, designed by architect Luigi Arcioni.
Modern era
Between the 13th century and the 15th century, Ghedi followed the historical events of the Lower Brescian Plain, contested between the Duchy of Milan and the Republic of Venice; precisely because of such tensions, on August 15, 1453, the so-called Battle of Ghedi occurred. The small center, at that time under Venetian rule, gained increasing importance due to its strategic position and fortified village, a potential hub for distributing Venetian troops along the western borders. Due to continuous warfare that repeatedly destroyed the wall enclosures, the inhabitants obtained tax exemptions from the Serenissima on several occasions, specifically to rebuild the castle walls. The definitive military decline of the village dates to the technological development of weaponry, now capable of easily besieging the simple village wall.In 1465, amid these ongoing conflicts and to restore faith among the people of Ghedi, the community erected a monastery named Santa Maria delle Grazie, donating it to the Observant Friars Minor. From 1498 onward, the Republic of Venice granted the territory of Ghedi as a fief to Niccolò di Pitigliano, Count of Pitigliano and Nola, and Captain General of the Mainland for the Serenissima; wishing to reside there permanently, he had a noble palace built and prepared a funerary monument in the church of the aforementioned Franciscan convent. The latter, following the Napoleonic suppression of 1799, fell into disuse. It was then sold and converted into a farmhouse ; the funerary mausoleum was donated in 1838 by nobleman Ottavio Mondella to the Santa Giulia Museum in Brescia, to be placed in the choir of the nuns.
Starting from the 15th century, thanks to a stable economic situation in the commune and the practice of emphyteusis, the first farmhouses arose within the same village. Known in dialect as löch, or if smaller, löcasì, they typically featured internal vegetable gardens and orchards hidden behind large gates. The commune's ambitions diminished in the 16th century. Ghedi shifted its focus to preserving the existing heritage and abandoned expansionist policies, which led to a definitive decline.
Contemporary era
As early as 1547, attempts were made to render the village lands cultivable, especially the heath to the north and east of the center, by diverting the course of the Naviglio di Brescia into small canals; other reclamation efforts were undertaken from the late 18th century, mainly on the initiative of the Brescian agricultural academy. However, a radical intervention in this regard began in the mid-19th century and early 20th century, when many farmers founded dedicated companies and societies to reclaim the lands known as "lame."The construction of Ghedi railway station on the Brescia–Parma railway route in 1893 was significant. During the first post-war period, the village continued its economic and demographic development, also thanks to the foundation of the military airport of Brescia-Ghedi, named after Luigi Olivari; this new military hub hosted several air shows in the 1930s, some of which were attended by Gabriele D'Annunzio. At that time, the local economy was based on sericulture and livestock breeding, so much so that in 1930 a new slaughterhouse was founded for trading animal meat. In 1915, a modern cotton mill was also established, called "Cotonificio del Mella" and later "Filatura Bresciana," which by 1930 employed about 500 people. Meanwhile, from 1928, agrarian reform was completed, and five new rural establishments were built along with two new quarries, "Gandina" and "Montirone"; the Credito Agrario Bresciano also assisted the local population in reclaiming the lame. After reaching its peak, Ghedi Airport became home to the Frecce Tricolori and the 6th Wing of the Italian Air Force in the 1960s.