A few kilometers south of Aulla, in the Aulella valley, the town of Bibola sits perched on a hill, a town whose origins can be traced to the Classical era, as evidenced by its name. In the Byzantine era, at the beginning of the 7th century, an anonymous man from Ravenna wrote Cosmographia, an itinerary outlining a number of fortifications along the road from Luni to Lucca; of these places, the towns of Pulica, Bibola, Rubra (Terrarossa) and Corneda were mentioned.
Bibola was probably one of the Byzantine kastrons that defended Luni’s harbor. In the Middle Ages, it neighbored the important castle of Burcione (no longer standing today), that together controlled one of the roads connected to the via Francigena. The ancient Byzantine complex was probably situated atop the ruins of the Malaspina castle and its tower. Using both smoke signals and mirror reflections, the towers of the area were able to communicate: from the towers of Filattiera and Grondola, signals would fly to the castles of Bastia, Monti, Lusuolo and Castiglione del Terziere.
