The Taro Valley is a wonder of nature; we have mountains, pastures, lakes, woods, rivers and brooks and clean, healthy fresh air. Bedonia, the town in which Villa Tre Angeli is situated, is culled in a basin, protected on all sides from the harsh elements, we have a peaceful lifestyle, not too far away from the city – it seems the perfect place to be.
Now, as we are slowly easing towards the summer months, a big change takes place before our eyes; many of the houses which remain silently empty during the winter – in the town, but mainly in the hamlets spread all around it – suddenly begin to open their shutters and spring to life again, bustling with busy occupants brushing away the cobwebs of a long cold season, ready to welcome the sun.
This area – the Taro and Ceno Valleys – witnessed an exodus of emigrants in the 1800’s, an era in which work had become a rarity, so humble folk with families to feed saw no other option than to try their luck far away from their beloved homeland. Many emigrated to America, some to England, others to Australia….the old family houses stood either abandoned to themselves or were entrusted to those who were left behind. Through the years, some of them were restructured and turned into “modern” houses, according to the fashions of the following decades, but many were left to their own devices when the last occupants passed away, and stood empty, slowly and sadly dying.
In recent years there has been an enormous increase in the purchase of old rustic houses to restructure; residents of cities such as Parma, Milan, and others besides, desperately searching for a place to escape to, a haven where the stress of their daily lives can be forgotten, have discovered our valleys and their treasures. Many a forlorn but potentially lovely (to those who have an artistic eye!) run-down building has been snapped up and transformed into a magnificent summer home, often surrounded by a good stretch of land, becoming a paradise for a lucky family. Thanks to this phenomenon, our mountains are rapidly being repopulated, beautiful old stone houses have had their dignity finally restored to them, and our area is getting the attention it deserves.