Castelvecchio di Rocca Barbena () is a ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' (municipality) in the

Province of Savona The province of Savona (; Ligurian language, Ligurian: ''provinsa de Sann-a'') is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Liguria region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Savona, which has a population of 61,219 inhabitants. The province has a ...

in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

region

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

, located about southwest of

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

and about southwest of

Savona Savona (; ) is a seaport and (municipality) in the west part of the northern Italian region of Liguria, and the capital of the Province of Savona. Facing the Ligurian Sea, Savona is the main center of the Riviera di Ponente (the western se ...

. It is one of

I Borghi più belli d'Italia () is a non-profit private association of small Italian towns of strong historical and artistic interest, that was founded in March 2001 on the initiative of the Tourism Council of the National Association of Italian Municipalities, with the a ...

("The most beautiful villages of Italy").

Geography

Castelvecchio di Rocca Barbena borders the following municipalities: Balestrino, Bardineto,

Erli Erli is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about southwest of Savona. Erli borders the following municipalities: Castelbianco, Castelvecchio di Rocca Barben ...

Garessio Garessio is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italy, Italian region Piedmont, located about south of Turin and about southeast of Cuneo. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). ...

Toirano Toirano () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about southwest of Savona. Geography Toirano borders the following municipalities: Balestrino, Bardineto, ...

, and

Zuccarello Zuccarello (; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about southwest of Savona. Zuccarello borders the following municipalities: Arnasco, Balestrino, Cast ...

. The village gets its name from a nearby mountain called Rocca Barbena.

History

In the 12th and 13th centuries, Castelvecchio was part of the

fiefdom A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

of the Marquis of

Clavesana Clavesana is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about south of Turin and about northeast of Cuneo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 845 and an area of .All demographics and o ...

. Gradually it lost importance as the centre of local feudal power shifted to the nearby fief of

. In 1623 Castelvecchio was acquired by the

Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchic state or realm ruled by a king or queen. ** A monarchic chiefdom, represented or governed by a king or queen. * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and me ...

under the

House of Savoy The House of Savoy (, ) is a royal house (formally a dynasty) of Franco-Italian origin that was established in 1003 in the historical region of Savoy, which was originally part of the Kingdom of Burgundy and now lies mostly within southeastern F ...

. After the castle was besieged in 1672, the Castelvecchio was ceded to the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

. In 1746 , following the

Spanish War of Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish ...

a failed attempt was made by the Piedmontese army to take the village and the castle. In 1815 Castelvecchio once more became part of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia and following

Italian unification The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the annexation of various states of the Italian peninsula and its outlying isles to the Kingdom of ...

in 1861 it became part of the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

Architecture

The village is characterised by old stone houses clustered around an ancient castle. The Castello dei Clavesana, which dates from around the 9th-10th centuries, towers over the village on a large rocky

promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the s ...

. From the 11th century onwards, the castle was developed and village was constructed outside the castle walls. Castelvecchio di Rocca Barbena has been named as one of the most beautiful villages of Italy by the association "I Borghi più belli d’Italia".

Sports

The area around Castelvecchio di Rocca Barbena is perfect for hiking and mountain biking with many access roads and dedicated mountain biking trails. There is a sports association called the A.S.D Castelvecchio Rockriders who maintain and build new mountain bike paths. Working under the bran
Wild Rock MTB
together wit
Bardineto Outdoor
they are bringing more mountain bikers to the area and in turn increasing the economy within the towns.

References

External links