Sassello (; locally ) 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 west 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 north 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 ...

in the northern side of the Ligurian Apennines. It is the birthplace of Blessed

Chiara Badano Chiara Badano (October 29, 1971 – October 7, 1990) was an Italian teenager who has been beatified by the Roman Catholic Church. At age nine she joined the Focolare Movement and received the nickname "Luce" ("light") by the founder Chiara Lubi ...

. Part of Sassello's territory lies within the boundaries of the Parco naturale regionale del Beigua.

History

Little is known of pre-historic and even medieval events before 1000 AD, although the area has certainly been visited - if not inhabited - by stone age humans, as evidenced by tools and weapons found locally.

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

reports the presence of the Statielli, a Ligurian tribe, not far from Sassello in present-day

Acqui Terme Acqui Terme (; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Alessandria, Piedmont, northern Italy. It is about south-southwest of Alessandria. It is one of the principal winemaking communes of the Italian DOCG wine Brachetto d'Acqui. The c ...

. Sassello is first mentioned in 967 AD in an Imperial bull which attached it to the Marquesate of Aleram. Later on, it belonged to Bonifacio del Vasto, the Del Carretto, Ponzone and Genoese Doria families. Due to its strategical position, it was long contended between 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 ...

and the Marquisate of Montferrat. Genoa acquired it from the Doria family in 1612, whereas in 1672 and 1747 it was occupied - and burnt down - by the

Duchy of Savoy The Duchy of Savoy (; ) was a territorial entity of the Savoyard state that existed from 1416 until 1847 and was a possession of the House of Savoy. It was created when Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, raised the County of Savoy into a duchy f ...

. It reintegrated the Republic of Genoa until its

annexation Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held t ...

to the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia, also referred to as the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica among other names, was a State (polity), country in Southern Europe from the late 13th until the mid-19th century, and from 1297 to 1768 for the Corsican part of ...

in 1815. After that date, Sassello followed the destiny of

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

to become part of the new Italian kingdom in 1861. From 1570 to 1670 it was the seat of large ironworks which only the widespread use of coal made obsolete.

Culture

The ironworks period represented a golden age for Sassello, whose population rose perhaps to 5,000 people. The urban character of the settlement allowed for the development of a learned élite and a small vernacular literature. A song, still popular today, was composed during the 1747 war as a reaction to the Austro-Piedmontese occupation, carried out by a horde of Croatian mercenaries. It goes: Also in vernacular, Abbot Gio Lorenzo Federico Gavotti composed ''Ei quattei stagiugni sascline'' ("The four seasons of Sassello").Alessandra Badano, "''Il poema Sassello di GLF Gavotti, B. Zunini e G. Gavotti''", Graduation Thesis, University of Genova, 1992 "''Sassello''" is another much longer poem that Gavotti composed together with his friend B. Zunini. It revolves around the local costumes during the first decades of the 1800s. It was written in standard Italian with only a few verses in vernacular. Jacopo Perrando (1853-1917), author of a fairy tale "''Scisciacco''" is also worth mentioning.

Economy

After the collapse of the

ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloome ...

and the annexation to the

, an impoverished population drew its subsistence from agriculture and

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

. Strong ties with Genoa meant the penetration of a dense trading network. With the rise of the Genoese bourgeoisie, Sassello became a tourist destination, as rich summer dwellings were built. Today, tourism and confectionery industry are its main economic resources. The recent inclusion of part of its territory within the Regional Park of Mount Beigua opens new perspectives in this sense.

History

Culture

Economy

Twin towns

See also

References

External links