Pietra Ligure Castle

Pietra Ligure Castle. Pietra Ligure owes its name to the ancient castle that stands on the rocky outcrop facing north-east, overlooking the bay, the coast and the surrounding hills. Castrum et Oppidum Petrae, the “stone castle”, built in the VII – VIII century, and long inhabited by the Bishops of Albenga, which in 1100 made ​​it their summer residence.

The first human settlements in the area, dating back to the Neolithic period, are proved by the various archaeological remains found in the caves of Mount Trabocchetto (Rocca delle Fene). Among the finds some tools for hunting and defense, but also traces of fire. Other findings, such as a tomb wagon carried forward, are dated to the Iron Age and the Roman imperial rule in the area. They were also found ancient coins of the I and II century, scholars assumed by the establishment of a town that, after the passage of the Via Aurelia towards the French Riviera, acquired greater economic importance thanks to the road link with the major Roman centers of Vada sabatia (Vado Ligure) and Albingaunum (Albenga).