Porto Valtravaglia

Porto Valtravaglia
Comune
Comune di Porto Valtravaglia
Porto Valtravaglia
Coat of arms
Location of Porto Valtravaglia
Porto Valtravaglia Location of Porto Valtravaglia in Italy Show map of Italy Porto Valtravaglia Porto Valtravaglia (Lombardy) Show map of Lombardy
Coordinates: 45°58′N 8°42′E / 45.967°N 8.700°E / 45.967; 8.700
Country	Italy
Region	Lombardy
Province	Varese (VA)
Frazioni	Ligurno, Muceno, Musadino, San Michele, C.na Profarè, C.na Bassa, Monte Pian Nave, Monte della Colonna, Monte Ganna, Domo, Torre, Casa Piano Croce
Government
• Mayor	Bruno Virgilio Barassi
Area [1]
• Total	16.0 km2 (6.2 sq mi)
Elevation	199 m (653 ft)
Population  (Dec. 2004)[2]
• Total	2,464
• Density	150/km2 (400/sq mi)
Demonym	Portovaltravagliesi
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	21010
Dialing code	0332
Patron saint	Madonna Assunta
Saint day	August 15
Website	Official website

Porto Valtravaglia is a comune (municipality) of c. 2,400 inhabitants in the Province of Varese in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 70 kilometres (43 mi) northwest of Milan and about 20 kilometres (12 mi) northwest of Varese.

Porto Valtravaglia borders the following municipalities: Brezzo di Bedero, Brissago-Valtravaglia, Casalzuigno, Castelveccana, Duno, Ghiffa and Oggebbio.

Dario Fo, Nobel Prize in literature of 1997, spent his childhood and adolescence here, and the little village played a central role in the development of his artistic specificity and production. In fact, it was the mix of people from different countries, working at the local, renowned blown glass factory and speaking an array of languages, that inspired the creation by Fo of the Grammelot, an original new idiom mixing a number of regional dialects. Listening to the stories told by the inhabitants of the village, typically fishermen, peasants, glass blowers and smugglers, then, introduced and trained him to the art of storytelling, of which he was a great representative. Eventually, it was again the local population, often busy with nightly jobs, who inspired one of his novels, "Il paese dei Mezarat" (the village of the bats).

• Official website (in Italian)