Altitude: 371 m a.s.l.
Area: 11.27 sq km
Distance from Imperia: 25 km
Inhabitants: in 1881: 139 - in 2017: 553
Patron Saint Day: November 30th - St. Andrew
Information: Municipality phone 0182 988004
Going up Val Varatella, a valley that goes from Borghetto Santo Spirito to Toirano, you can reach Carpe and Bardinetto on one side, and Balestrino on the other: we will now focus on this last village surrounded by the green mountains of the Ligurian Apennines.
Of all the villages, indeed, which embellish this part of the Savona hinterland, Balestrino is undoubtedly one of the most suggestive, rich in ancient traditions and memories that express, through their history and legends, the virtues and pride of its inhabitants.
Visita al Borgo
Among the recently built cottages appears, at the top, the solid and majestic Castle which still dominates the old village. The village is spiraled around the cliff on which the castle was built in today's structure by Pirro II Del Carretto.
Only the Castle, its walls and its ramparts -on which the still visible loopholes open-, remain solidly anchored to the rock, while the entire old town was abandoned in 1962-1963 following landslides.
It is known for certain that three ancient nobilities succeeded one another in the government of Balestrino (whose name derives from "balestra", a Roman war weapon).
When the monks were forced to abandon these lands due to the bullying and invasions of the neighboring feudal lords and retreated to cloistered life in the Abbey of Monte San Pietro, the Counts Bava appeared, of whom little is known. They lived modestly dealing mostly with agriculture.
The last representative of this lineage, Federico Bava, sold his feudal rights on Balestrino to the Marquises del Carretto di Zuccarello on several occasions.
Only of the latter (whose dynasty died out in 1954 with the death of the last descendant, the lawyer and “Commendatore” Domenico) are known with certainty the names and the vicissitudes that had them as protagonists during the long years of their lordship, which extended from Savona to Finale Ligure up to the plain of Albenga and the Albenga hinterland up to the Langhe area in Piedmont, bordering on some stretches with the Duchy of Savoy and with the Republic of Genoa.
Illustrious ancestors of this lineage, which in 1500 obtained the regular investiture of the Balestrino marquisate from Massimiliano I, were Boniface of Monferrato who led the crusade proclaimed by Pope Innocent III, Alice of Savoy and Enrico I, also a valiant crusader.
In 1509 the feudal lords settled in the castle, erected on the rock of "Castrum Balestrini", once an advanced position of the Roman legions that guarded the ancient salt and iron road, which, passing the mount Sambuco, led to Piedmont.
In the succession of centuries are handed down stories and legends on the castle and its inhabitants, and also on the proud behavior of the people from Balestrino in the struggles to safeguard their freedom and their independence, both against aggressive feudatories and against foreign occupation troops.
It is known that on 16 March 1561, Pirro II, son of the Marquis Antonio, was slaughtered in his bed together with the "druda" Catina Barba, a plebeian woman from Monesiglio from whom he had two sons and who with her luxury and her extravagances had irritated the population.
After the crime, the castle was attacked and looted, and the rebellious inhabitants of Balestrino took refuge with their families in nearby Toirano.
But apart from these dark episodes, the descendants of Pirro II, beginning with his son Giò Antonio, Marquis of Bardineto and Bossolasco, ruled with fairness and made the fiefdom respected and feared.
Giò Antonio was succeeded by his third son Enrico II and after him became Lord of Balestrino Ottaviano I, who married Bianca Costa, the only heir of the Counts of Garlenda, Conscente, Lengueglia, Paravenna and Sant'Onorato, towns that she brought him as a dowry.
Ottaviano I was a generous Lord. He embellished the castle and the village, building a new parish church, that of Sant'Andrea.
He was succeeded by Donato I and then by Ottaviano II, who founded the hospital, the first printing house and issued his own currency.
It can be said that this was the golden age of Balestrino which had become an industrious and independent fief, outdoing all the neighboring towns in well-being and organization.
Unfortunately, after a few years, in 1795 the castle and the village were attacked by French troops and the Marquis Giò Enrico IV was forced to retreat to Genoa where he remained until 1814.
Only in 1850 Donato III had the castle rebuilt in the superb structure that can still be admired today and his son Vittorio, who married the Marchioness Cambiaso of Genoa who was a member of the subalpine Parliament, tried to restore the village to its ancient well-being, taking care of the interests of the people with justice and freedom.
He left as a heir his son Domenico, who died in 1954, with whom the dynasty extinguished.