Today we discover the origin of the name of Fiumalbo, one of the most beautiful villages of the Modena Apennines, in which you can find a wonderful mountain architecture, set in an equally enchanting landscape, where it is possible to find a mix of nature and traditions. You will also experience magnificent places for skiing and hiking, and the other well-rooted traditions such as the Patron Saint Bartolomeo celebrations, the torch of the eve and then the living crib.
But let’s come to us: where does this name come from? As always, we must analise the name from the mix of past languages, like Latin, and local dialects.
The word Fiumalbo is composed of two Latin words “Flumen” and “Albus”. So the name refers to the river flowing in the hamlet, but why “Albus”, since the Latin adjective “white” gave birth to Italian words like albino or white?
For some people, the term Albus refers to the fact that the water of the river Scoltenna, which marks the border between Fiumalbo and Pievelago, crashing against the bottom pebbles, creates a white foam. However, some others believe that the word Albus is a “dialect mockery ” of” Alpium “, thus transforming the name of the acute course in” Flume Alpium “, i.e. the river of the Alps. In this way we can understand that, in fact, Fiumalbo was perceived by the mountains in Modena as the place that riginated from a river that comes from the highest mountain.
