Top 6 Castles around Cantalupo Ligure

In Torre degli Alberi, a small panoramic hamlet of the municipality of Colli Verdi in Oltrepò Pavese, the main church is the Chiesa del Santissimo Nome di Maria.

Vargo has had a castle known since 1157, the year of the invasions of Barbarossa's troops, but this construction was actually built as a signal tower in the Lombard era and is part of the so-called line of castles documented by Pertica.

The castle of Borgo Adorno was a fiefdom of the Genoese Spinola family until 1518, the year in which Tolomeo Spinola remained without legitimate children and appointed the children of his friend Agostino Adorno as his heirs.

Vargo is a hamlet of the municipality of Stazzano (AL) at about 410 m above sea level. During the Middle Ages it was an imperial fiefdom under the Genoese families of Fieschi and then Doria. In 1797 it was annexed to the Ligurian Republic and after the fall of Napoleon it followed the fate of the province of Novi, becoming part of Piedmont in 1859 with the Rattazzi Decree. It was an independent municipality until 1928. Vargo has a castle known since 1157, the year of the invasions of the troops following Barbarossa, but this construction was actually born as a signal tower in the Lombard era and is part of the so-called line of castles. The town developed concentrically around the “castle”, rebuilt by the Fieschi family of Genoa, lords of Vargo since 1413: after the conspiracy against the said feudal lords, it was dismantled in 1442, and later passed to the Doria family in 1547. Next to what must have been the south-east walls, there is still an oratory dedicated to the Virgin of the Annunciation, while today the once fortified structure is partly used as a residence, and the very visible main tower, inside which are the living quarters of the last owner, has not been altered.

An interesting route in the upper Curone Valley is the one that leads to the walled remains of the Brusamonica Castle, a small town about two kilometers from Caldirola. The castle, built on the crest of the mountains above Caldirola, dates back to the feudal era; although it has lost its ancient splendor over time, it still retains a certain charm, if only for its uncertain and mysterious origin. A legend tells that before the castle there was a convent in the same place, probably founded by the monastery of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro of Pavia and destroyed during a night of battle and looting (perhaps by Saracen troops) in the 9th century. This, like any good legend, is not confirmed by historical documents, even if even today the inhabitants of Caldirola, referring to the town of Brusamonica, are accustomed to using the term "convent". Contradictions aside, this castle, with a slope that extended up to Val Borbera and now collapsed, represents an important and concrete historical monument that can today become a destination for pleasant walks.

With the eMTB, it is difficult to reach the site of the remains of the Castle. The path is narrow, steep and in some places there are rocks that block pedaling. Better to go up from Mount Gropà with the eMTB.

The Torre Ratti castle is located in the hamlet of Torre Ratti in the municipality of Borghetto di Borbera, in the lower part of the Borbera valley, in the province of Alessandria. The lower Borbera valley was part of the Duchy of Milan for centuries and was enfeoffed by the Rati-Opizzoni family from Tortona.

In the late Middle Ages, the village was a fiefdom of the Genoese Spinola family until 1518, who built the castle in 1100. In 1518 Tolomeo Spinola was left without heirs and passed as an inheritance to his friend Agostino Adorno, of the Genoese Adorno family. In the 17th century the castle suffered serious damage following a landslide and shortly afterwards the current Botta Adorno castle and stately palace was built in its elegant style, still privately owned. The castle has an elegant Baroque style portal and a chapel dedicated to Saint Caterina Fieschi Adorno, great-granddaughter of Pope Innocent IV and wife of Giuliano Adorno, who lived between the 15th and 16th centuries.