Our Ancestral Home Town Of
Neirone, Prov. Di Genova, Italy

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Centro dell'alto bacino del torrente Lavagna, in una valletta laterale del versante sinistro, incisa dal Nerione, incassata fra le boscose pendici del monte Causcaso (1245m) e del monte Lavagnola (1118m). Roccatagliata e Corsiglia sono verso la testata della valletta; Ognio è in vista del fondovalle del Lavagna.
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Centre of the high basin of the Lavagna stream, in a small lateral valley on the left versant, etched by the Nerione and set between the wooded slopes of the Causcaso (1245m) and the Lavagna (1118m) mountains. Roccatagliata and Corsiglia are towards the top of the small valley; Ognio stands in view of the bottom of the Lavagna valley
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Abitanti: 960 (neironesi)
Altitudine s.l.m.: 342 m.
Superficie Com.: 30,3 kmq
Frazioni e localita': Acqua di ognio, Corsiglia, Lezzaruole, Ognio, Roccatagliata, San Marco d'Urri.
Festa patronale: San Maurizio (22 settembre)

Neirone. The legend (?)
say Pablo Picasso's grand father and
Frank Sinatra's mother was from the same valley!

Note: The different spellings of Genova, The Italian Spelling is Genova, The English spelling is Genoa, and the Genoese term for their city is Zena.
Neirone { pronounced Nei-yung in Genoese } is a very quiet mountain town. The three towns on the side of that mountain (Neirone, Corsiglia, Roccatagliata) have a linked history. From the stories I have heard, the towns were formally founded in A.D. 1328. Three knights were traveling with a nobleman through the area. They stopped for rest on that mountain. When it was time to continue, the three knights decided they would stay there. Each founded a town. In addition to Gardella and Guarnieri, there are several other surnames from that area: Dondero, Casazza, Garbarini, Basso, Biggio, and Foppiani are among them. Two churches service the towns; the main one (St. Maurizio) is located in Neirone. Another church(St. Lorenzo) is in Roccatagliata....
Neirone is located within the Province of Genova, about 18 miles NE of the City of Genova. The area is very mountainous. Neirone is literally built onto the side of a mountain. One main road runs up to Neirone and continues into Corsiglia and then Roccatagliata. Many streams run down from the upper mountain (Mt.Cáucaso). Neirone is the main town(the comune) for the three towns. The post office box is in Neirone. They used to have a finicular (a tram) which transported people up and down the mountain. Now, they use this type of thing just for mail and packages. The land is terraced and farming is done in this way. The thing I remember most about Neirone and the other towns is the peacefulness; very sleepy and quiet. Neirone has one store, one restaurant/bar, the town hall, the church, and a cemetery that is located at the entrance to the town. There is a statue dedicated to the WWI dead in the main square of the town There are no hotels in Neirone. I stayed in the town of Torriglia which is about 4 miles away. The population of Neirone is about 300 (pretty small). Someone had sent me a copy of the Neirone telephone listings(two pages) several years ago. Some of the other names from that area are listed:
Capurro, Lagomarsino, Rosasco, Schiappacasse, etc..
Information Abtained from E-Mail Contacts With Peter Ghiorse.. Special Thanks To Peter for Sharing His Stories & Information About His Visit To Neirone In 1995

More Information About Neirone from E-mail contact with a Michael P. Guarnieri Sr.
I've been to Italy many times but never got to Neirone. The last time I was in Milan..
I met a guy from LIguria named Piero Ghirardelli who had at least passed through there many times. He told me that before 1850 more or less that these little places like Neirone and Roccatagliata became practically uninhabitable (apparently droughts) so that you couldn't even grow food or feed the goats, so many came to the U.S. then and again around 1890. He said also that in between things got bad here so a lot of them went back to Italy , as did my great grandfather later.

Another Interesting Story Of The History Of Neirone

This From An E-Mail Contact With Michele Lavagnino
Who Has Visited The Town Of Neirone Several Times,,

Subj: History of Neirone

Date: 02/23/2000 9:43:49 AM Eastern Standard Time

From: lavagninop@mindspring.com (michele lavagnino)

To: anthony@guarnieri.com

I went back to your web page and was reading the history of Neirone and I must clarify a story that you have in there. I am 74 yrs old and have been in Neirone 5 times and each time came back an spoke to my father and mother about my travels, I first went in 1963 and visited relatives in Corsiglia and Rocca.When visiting Corsiglia my cousin Remo Gardella took me to the church in Rocca and showed me a mural in the church. The mural was the history of the founding of the valley. One Conte Fiesco (not sure of the spelling) a count went to the valley and built a castle directly above where the church is now in Rocca. He went to Genoa and came back with 4 man servants named Gardella,Corsiglia,Foppiano and Pensa. and as the families grew the formed the towns in the valley of Corsiglia and Neirone. Since I speak the dialect fluently I was able to confirm this story with the local priest and when I came home my mother also confirmed the story. The Date that was on the mural was 1302 ( maybe a few years off as my memory isn't as sharp as it use to be).

Neirone, Prov. Di Genova, Italy {Photo Taken On 04/21/1995}
Home & Ancestral Town Of Albert & Rose Guarnieri

The View looking From Neirone Into The Valley Below
Note: The Parish Church Of St. Maurizio "Center" at the Bottom In This Photo,

Church Of St. Maurizio In Neirone

The Bell Tower {Campanile}Of St. Maurizio In Neirone

A Small Stairway Next To The Front Courtyard Of St. Maurizio In Neirone

A Photo Looking Down At The Side Of The Mountain Showing
The Terraced Type Farming Used In Neirone

A Castle Near Neirone Prov. Di Genova,Italy

Special Thanks To "Peter Ghiorsi" For Sending Us These Photos Well He Was Researching His "Gardella" Family Roots In Neirone, Prov. Di Genova, Italy

Below are Beautifull Photos of the inside of The Parish Church Of St. Maurizio taken in April 1999 by Giulio S. Who lives in Italy And was doing some Geaneolgy Research for us at the Church in Neirone... "Grazie Tante" Giulio for E-Mailing us these lovely photos....

Photos Of Neirone, & The Towns of Rosasco, Ranfe, Donega, and Chiappcila?,,
Taken In 1999, Click On The Photos To View The Larger Photo

Neirone Photos From 2002
Click On The Thumb Nails To View The Larger Photos
( note the restoration being done to the Church Of St. Maurizio )

Photos Compliments Of Liz Guarnieri ( seen here in last photo )
{ These thumb nails/photos have been reduced in size for web page viewing from there original 1.6 meg size }
{ If you would like a higher quality printable copy,, e-mail your request }

Below a few more photos from Neirone sent via e-mail from Regina Powell in May 2008
The first one is of the Neirone hillside,, the next two are of unknown Possible Gardella Desendants of the Town.