Cava Manara

Cava Manara sits on the edge of the alluvial terrace above the Po, near the mouth of the Ticino, where the Lomellina meets the small Siccomario. In the thirteenth century it was Cava Taverna, in the squadra of Sommo: a piece of Lomellina administered with the Oltrepò Pavese. The name dates from 1863, when Cava took the surname of Luciano Manara, who had fought here and at Mezzana Corti in 1849. Its arms carry two silver swords crossed on red.

That border produced an oddity: when the Lomellina passed to Savoy, Austria refused to hand over Torre de' Torti, now a hamlet, and three other small places, claiming them for the Siccomario; between 1710 and 1738 the area had no ruler and became a refuge for outlaws, until English mediation awarded it to Savoy. The river did the rest: around the middle of the eighteenth century the Po cut through the meander that held the old village of Mezzana Corti, which ended up on the far bank, leaving the comune only the northern strip, where a new settlement was already growing.