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	The origins of the farm “Cà da Meo” "Ritrovando per li statuti antichi della terra prohibito alli terrieri, et habitatori di questo luoco di Gavio de introdure menare, ò far condurre uve ò vini nati in possessioni, e vigne situate fuori del territorio del luogo considerato ... in publico beneficio della terra nella quale si raccoglie buona quantità di vino anco da vendere con travaglio, et spesa assai..." The old Gavi Statutes, in the edition of 1632, stated what is written above, referring in particular to the protection of the local production of wines and grapes, nearly an anticipation of what would become the guidelines of “Gavi D.O.C.G.”. Also the small outlying suburb hamlet of Pratolungo was part of the old territory of “The luoco of Gavio”, mentioned in the statutes; set along the coastal road that borders with the village of Arquata, this hamlet spawls as far as it meets the provincial road which connects Gavi to Serravalle. In the centre, Pratolungo accompanies with Neirone torrent in its starting course, before it crosses the Piana di Valle, in order to run in the Lemme torrent. In the 1630 the Gavi fortress Commissioner, Andrea Sivori (already supervisor to the transformation of the old castle in fortress), bought from the Consuls of the community of Pratolungo 20 mines of wheat (approximately 1800 kilos) in order to give them to the fortress garrison and to the poorest people of the village. Duty of the commissioner, really, was also to supply to the needs of the civil population, that showed traces of the consequences due to the devastations completed by the Savoy Duke in that territory. Pratolungo has always been addressed to the development of the agricultural activities, also thanks to the particular exposure and the favourable microclimate, of which it benefits: from the cultivation of the grapevine, planted in beautiful degrading hills towards the Neirone torrent, to the cultivation of the wheat, realized in the fields of “long Meadow (Prato)”, which form the plain of Pratolungo. Pratolungo has always been addressed to the development of the agricultural activities, also thanks to the particular exposure and the favourable microclimate, of which it benefits: from the cultivation of the grapevine, planted in beautiful degrading hills towards the Neirone torrent, to the cultivation of the wheat, realized in the fields of “long Meadow (Prato)”, which form the plain of Pratolungo. Lots of farms were part of this old estate: among these, Cà Da Meo fully listed inside the ancient borders of the territory of Gavi. A whole of vineyards, fields and farms, that, in origin, were part of the large estate reserved to noble genovese families, such as the Lomellini, the Spìnola, Doria and the Pinelli. These estates, passing the time, have seen the change of their owners and they have partly been parcelled,working out in this way new boundaries of vineyards and farms. Among these estates, there is the “Piacentina Estate”, that probably has older origins than those you can glimpse from the building, still existing today. Some documents, indeed, concur to establish that this toponym was already present in XVI century and made explicit references to a certain “Montà delli piasentini”. Maybe, this was an area inhabited by an original familiar group from Piacenza, moved to Pratolungo, following some soldiers enlisted in the fortress of Gavi and then established along the banks of Neirone. Here, the supposed founder of the Piasentinì family had installed later, devoting himself to agriculture and originating the forst family, which was followed by other ones. Actually in 1581 there are a lot of people, maybe descendants from that first “Piacentina family”. If in 1581, there were some families from the “Piacentini”, we may think that this familiar group was in Pratolungo from at least a pair of generations. So with reasonable certainty, the origin of the estate “Piacentina” dates back to a period between the XV and XVI century. The rural building of Cà da Meo was presumably home to some of the prolific members of the family of the Piasentini: for this reason, we can say that it is contemporary with the same “Piacentina”, mother-house of this group of farms. The origin of toponym “Cà da Meo” seems, instead, rather difficult to be understood and full of doubts. If really Meo were a male noun, as for example the contraction of Bartolomeo in the local dialect, you should say “du”, that is “Meo’s house” and not from (origin). Maybe, the preposition “da” could have beeen used to indicate the contiguity, i.e. “the house next to Meo’s one”. To complicate the matter, there is also a document of 1660, that, referring to the location of Santa Seraffa Farm, mentions by chance “Ca’ da Meri”. Maybe it sends back to another toponym of the zone, maybe it’s a wrong transcription, or it could be that “Ca’ da Meo”, originally was the female noun just for “Ca’ da Meri”. This is what documents can do when they can’t give explanations: they often confuse further on. In any case the toponym “Cà da Meo” is a small mystery that doesn’t need to be revealed. It’s just like the story of a small robin, that one day entered in “Cà da Meo”, even though was immediately set free, wasn’t forgotten by the people, who saw it flying in those rooms.
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