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History of Vizzero
The village is placed on the ridge between Tuscany and Emilia, that once was the border between Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the Papal State.
Owing to these characteristics, it was once mostly frequented and inhabited by bandits.
The latter, due to their knowledge of paths through thick woods and mountain ravines, used to attack the travellers and traders (mostly from Pistoia and Lucca) and then to go bargaining to Bologna, once being part of the Papal State.
The origins of Vizzero date back to 1322 when a group of refugees Tuscan Ghibellini gathered here and then left to Monteacuto delle Alpi where they besieged the castle.
The Captain of the mountain Bartolo Beccadelli, who had his residence in Casio, ran with his soldiers to help the besieged.
So the refugees retired to Orsigna, which is close to Vizzero.
As soon as they knew that the Captain had returned with his troops to Casio, they went again to Monteacuto and after having sacked it they set fire to that village.
Vizzero belonged to Grand Duchy of Tuscany but in 1506 passed under the Papal State when Giulio II was Pope of Rome.
The plague of brigantage infested the Papal State not only in those places.
At Vizzero, the local Lords paid or even commanded the bandits' army.
Pope Sisto V undertook a pitiless struggle against them.
In spite of all, the inaccessible mountains with meandering paths through thick woods assured the bandits a sort of superiority.
That is why they kept on plying their trades almost with impunity.
Vizzero became therefore a freeport and a refuge to escape the wrath of the Pope and of other legal powers.
It is here that many chiefs and robbers found a refuge and built their homes.
Eventually they directed their business mostly to rich Tuscany.
In the middle of XVII century the Florentinians attacked Vizzero destroying homes and slaughtering the inhabitants.
After these events Vizzero was no longer a refuge for robbers.
In 1666 during the Pontificate of Alessandro VII (on Wednesday 8th July) the notary Giambattista Puberini of Bologna signed a deed for the building of an Oratory.
In 1861 the Parish of Vizzero was built and was dedicated to Saint Michael Archangel, with the relative benefice of a rent of 10 scudi and 8 paoli a year.
After World War II and the coming of the Republic, two citizens of Vizzero have been elected to the Parliament and to the Senate.
On. Armando Sabatini was elected Member of the Parliament for four legislatures, Member of the European Coal and Steel Community and Vice President of the European Council in Strasbourg. He was the promoter of the so-called Law Sabatini of 1965.
On. Giuliano Aniello has been a Senator for one Legislature.