After 80 years a little girl is born in a small village in the Reggio Emilia area

– Little Anna Lou broke a spell that lasted almost a century in the fifteenth-century village of Mulino di Leguigno-Cortogno, in the municipality of Casina, in the Reggio Emilia Apennines. In fact, no girl has been born here for over 80 years.
The last child was born in 1951 and had left the place in ’65 marking the ‘end’ of the village. Last November 3rd a pink bow appeared on the entrance door of the ‘Mulino in Pietra’ farmhouse managed by the newly parents Valentina Ruozi and Matteo Ribecco, the only ones to live in the small hamlet nestled in the mountains of the green Val Tassobbio.
«Our daughter will live embraced by nature, surrounded by the history of its ancient stone walls – the parents explain to the local newspapers – she is the first child who, from the 1940s onwards, was born in what in the past was known as the ‘Borgo delle Donn”. Captivated by the beauty of the place, Valentina and Matteo – originally from Reggio Emilia and Albinea respectively, cities about forty kilometers away from the Apennines – moved here and changed their lives.
«We had different lives, but which often took us traveling and abroad (he was an officer on cruise ships, she was a journalist and marketing director, ed.) – says Valentina – We have always had this dream, to open a place where we could meet. We looked at our experiences: my grandparents were farmers, while Matteo had the dream of opening a mountain refuge.” In 2022 they took over the village. «We renovated it and now our daily life is made of agritourism offering short supply chain products and animals. We hope that it can be a place where our little girl can grow up and always live happily – they conclude – Here there is a lying poplar that is more than 150 years old, even if it has fallen it continues to live and is a symbol of rebirth”.