The art of filigree - protected by the regional
quality mark 'Artigiani In Liguria' - is a special and complex technique with
which very fine threads of gold or silver are woven together to create precious
arabesques. This excellence of Italian craftsmanship can be found in Campo
Ligure, a municipality of 2,700 inhabitants, located in the centre of the Stura
Valley less than 40 km from the city of Genoa, founded by the ancient Romans,
acquired by the Genoese Republic in 1217 and today considered one of the most
beautiful villages in Italy.
Campo Ligure is also the only significant centre in
Italy of this production, which was already known to the Etruscans and Romans
and landed in Genoa in 1200 with the return of the Crusaders, and which became
firmly established in the small town, with the establishment of dozens of
specialised workshops from 1884 onwards. Since then, it is the goldsmiths of
Campo Ligure who can worthily be considered as the sole heirs of those who, in
times long past, preserved and refined this craft, an extraordinary excellence
of Liguria. The preciousness of silver and gold filigree objects is not so much
given by the value of the materials as by the meticulous and patient
workmanship that each one requires in which technical skill and artistic
sensitivity are inextricably linked.
6 craft workshops in particular continue to cultivate
art, flair and tradition and have been awarded the regional quality label
'Artigiani In Liguria'. They are: Effe-Erre, Eredi di Matteo Bongera,
Filigranart, Pastorino Filigrana, Piombo Silvio il Gioiello, and Gianpaolo
Rizzo's company Gierre, which has a sales outlet in Genoa's historic centre.
More information on their activity can be found in
this platform Youliguria.it, for Gierre some products are available in the
E-commerce page.