Castello Di Campo Ligure

From 2021 it is possible to book a guided tour that lasts about an hour and a half and allows you to go up to the castle, go through the ancient snowfield and reach the top of the tower accompanied by engaging and professional guides, I recommend it!

«From the top of the hill the castle» dominates Campoligure, surrounded by meadows and fir trees and crowned by mountains rich in chestnut woods. It is accessed from the town, an important center for its industries and trade since the Middle Ages. The fortification was erected to control various roads that connected the Genoese with the Monferrato. Even today Campoligure is at the crossroads of various roads and is easily reachable via the Turchino state road, the A26 Genoa-Alessandria motorway and the railway. The date of foundation is uncertain: some scholars trace it back to the Roman era, others to the 9th century, but in reality the castle looks like a late medieval construction. At the beginning of the fourteenth century the Genoese family of Spinola obtained the village as a fief, while the nearby centers of Rossiglione and Masone remained in the Republic of Genoa. The castle became the undisputed symbol of the family, who temporarily lived there. The defense and control of the town, of the valleys and of the communication routes was entrusted to a few soldiers. The fortress underwent several renovations and extensions, including the addition of a pentagonal wall, probably in the sixteenth century. ?➡ Several underground and aerial passages connected the castle to the village. The fire of the seventeenth century, which affected the whole village, perhaps spared the castle, which was, however, later used by the Spinola themselves as a quarry for building material for the new marquis palace. The devastation suffered by the Napoleonic soldiers at the beginning of the nineteenth century led to the abandonment of the castle, which was still used by German soldiers during the Second World War. Having become municipal property in 1986, the castle has recently been restored with the contribution of the Province of Genoa. Of great architectural interest, the castle is a unique example of its kind in the Stura valley. The tower, more than twenty-two meters high, is the oldest part and has a diameter of almost six meters. The masonry is made of river pebbles, stones and bricks arranged in a helical line. Large square and rusticated ashlars are found, however, in the external corners of the hexagonal walls, which enclose the tower. A bread oven was discovered inside the enclosure used as a dwelling. The external enclosure is pentagonal in shape with towers on three vertices of six meters in diameter, one of which in a state of ruin and the others remodeled. The recent restoration, while retaining the ancient elements, has made it possible to use the tower and the hexagonal body. These rooms are used for exhibitions and meetings, while concerts and outdoor shows are performed in the space enclosed by the pentagonal wall. "From the castle, and even more so from the top of the tower, you can enjoy a magnificent view of the town and the three valleys, Stura, Ponzema and Langassino". ?.? ?

Quiet morning walk in the Campo Ligure village with a short climb to the castle which is closed and not open to visitors. Overall a positive judgment. It would make no sense to go there just to see the castle.