Curiosities and traditions

The Hectic manner in which we are obliged to live today, against our will, in the cities, makes a trip however short into the hinterland an opportunity that allows us to enjoy a breath of that fresh air that we long for physically and spiritually and which we are unable to obtain in our harassed daily lives.
The western area of Liguria with its picturesque valleys, the glorious memories, and its important monuments is undoubtedly very enticing.
The Arroscia valley with its luxuriantly green chestnut woods, its pretty countryside, the palely tinted tonality of its stone monuments so well suited to the soft silver of the olive trees, is an especially attractive goal for all those who love nature, peace art and antiquities.
The villages are almost always fortified and built according to a regular plan, are situated along the road.
Leaving Albenga the road follows the course of the Centa torrent upstream, leading into the valley of the Arroscia torrent. They are a proof of the territorial organization given by the Municipality of Albenga, between the XIII and XIV centuries to t his district, to control and protect the outlets of the valleys that flow into the most important alluvial plain of Liguria.
The plain is dominated by a flat and monotonous landscape for the cultivation of fruits, and is characterised by the large number of hothouses indispensable for the production of the early season fruits, which constitutes the greatest wealth of the whole Albenga region.
The small plains at the end of the valleys and the meadows that can still be found on the slopes are the winter grazing fields of a centuries-old seasonal transhumance of sheep, which has lasted to our days.
In winter it is still possible to meet a shepherd of the Arroscia highlands come to spend the cold season with his flock of sheep at sea level, and in spring, the herds of cattle that migrate from the cow-sheds of the plains to the pastures of the mountains.