FOR an overwhelming majority of Scots-Italians, Barga means home.

For those returning to the Tuscan hilltop town - whether they are taking their children for the first time, or retiring to the place of their ancestral roots after a life in Scotland - the church at the side of road is the first Barga landmark to come into view.

To the Italian diaspora, the crumbling walls mean one thing: Welcome back. But, though the warm message will always remain the same, the walls may not be crumbling for very much longer.

Thanks to the initiative of one family in Troon, and the generosity of the ScotsItalians community, the church is undergoing a major renovation so that, come spring, it can say "benvenuto" properly.

Umberto Sereni, the mayor of the town whose own father began his working life frying fish at the Savoy cafe on Renfield Street, Glasgow, said:

"This church is an important symbol for the Barghigiani (Barga natives)who are living all over the place.

"It is a sacred monument, but it is also a symbol of the past and of hope for the future. By funding this project with Scottish help, we are celebrating those historic links which have been so important to the town and to Scotland."

Until two years ago, the medieval Chiesina Delle Palmette (Little Church of the Palms)was derelict. Local funding had run out and its roof had fallen into disrepair.

However, after the mayor of Barga conducted his son's marriage, Aldo Cecchini, owner of two restaurants in Troon and Ayr, and his family considered ways of repaying the favour.

Morag Cecchini, a Gaelic speaker who married the Italian 38 years ago, two years after his arrival in Ayrshire, said: "It was over dinner in Barga, speaking with friends, that we decided we should try to raise funds for the church.

Forme it is sad to see it in that state for so many years."

Tomorrow, around 300 people, including Archbishop Mario Conti and other members of some of Scotland's most well-known Italian families, will gather in Troon Town Hall, for a fundraising event. All the guests share an interest, if not an ancestry, with the town which calls itself "the most Scottish city in Italy".

Such is the cross-fertilisation between the cultures, thanks to migration throughout the twentieth century, that a panino is now referred to as "un sandwicho" in local parlance, and 20 days of the year are dedicated to celebrating Scottish cuisine at the town's Fish and Chips Festival.

Archbishop Mario Conti, whose parents and three grandparents come from Barga, even celebrated the connection at a service at St Andrew's cathedral last Monday.

Ronnie Convery, director of communications at the archdiocese of Glasgowwho accompanied the archbishop when he visited relatives in September, said: "In the summer it is like a Scottish town . . . It's full of people who seem to have spent half their lives in Ardrossan, Troon orGreenock."

Among the items in the charity auction will be a painting by John Bellany, the Scottish artist who bought a home with his wife just outside Barga six years ago and now spends five months of the year there.

The local connection was lost on the couple until they wandered into the town and noticed the Scottish twang in the local brogue.

The surrounding mountains and cathedral in the old town have inspired his paintings, said the artist.

He said: "It has been a bit of an idyll for us. It reminds me of my own childhood.

Maybe it's because it is a village, but it has a warmth there, everybody knows each other. And they are absolutely beautiful."

Barga, and the surrounding area of Garfagnana, gave Scotland around 40-per cent of its Scots-Italian population, who still refer to themselves as "Barghigiani". Others came from further south in Frosinone, Lazio.

It was the "figurinai", groups of travelling statuette salesman, who first stimulated migration from Barga, near Lucca, to Scotland in the late 1800s. The towering figure of Leopold Giuliani, an emigrant who became the richest Italian in Scotland, was also central to cultivating links with his native Barga.

He paid the passage of young Barga boys to work for his ice-cream empire.

Many of them then encouraged the migration of their extended families and later set up their own businesses in Scotland.

Waves of relatives joined the new Scots, often finding work in the flourishing network of ice-cream parlours, restaurants and chip shops.

It is hoped tomorrow's event will raise around GBP7000 for the church. Providing the work is finished in time, Mayor Sereni plans to hold a festa on the symbolic date of March 1.

Why symbolic? Because it marks the day Ryanair began its service, treasured among the Scottish Barghagiani, from Prestwick to Pisa - a route which has further stimulated links.

SONS AND DAUGHTERS

Barga has not only given Scotland a huge majority of its 40,000 Italian descendants, it also provides some of the best-known artists, musicians, actors, and public figures. Among them are

Daniela Nardini, the This Life actress whose surname is synonymous with the Largs ice-cream empire

Archbishop Mario Conti, had three grandparents from the city

Nicola Benedetti, the celebrated young violinist, whose father, Gio, left the Lucca region at the age of 10

Tom Conti, actor who shares one of the most common surnames from the region