The name “Sassello” first appeared on an official document in the year
967, when Emperor Otto II made the city and its territory, located not
far from Savona in the Ligurian Apennines, a fief of the marquis Aleramo,
along with other lands. Fifty-three years later, the first Italian Cistercian
abbey was founded in Tiglieto, then within the territory and purview of
Sassello. As time went by, the conflicting economic interests of the Principality
of Piedmont and the Republic of Genoa led to fighting which did not leave
Sassello unscathed. In 1672, the city suffered its last sack and destruction,
at the hands of the House of Savoy. One hundred and twenty-five years
later, in 1796, Napoleon trounced the Austrians at Montenotte, only a
few kilometres from Sassello, and people are still looking around for
old weapons and mementoes of the battle. Napoleon also put Claude Chabrol
in charge of the area, and in 1824 Chabrol published a report with statistics
that was to be, for posterity, the most complete work on the economic
life and social fabric of Sassello and its region at the beginning of
the 19th century. Iron smelting took place from the 17th up to the beginning
of the 19th century, and cotton was spun and silk worms bred well into
the 20th century. Although agricultural and industrial activities have
tapered away, they have not disappeared altogether. Sassello still lives
off its forests by producing timber and firewood. And the city has carved
a little niche for itself in the culinary industry. Since 1860, Sassello
has been exporting worldwide its amaretti teneri, delightful little macaroons
invented and perfected by the locals. The amaretti have given life to
a local industry which has been a mainstay of Sassello’s economy and,
in one way or another, the bread and butter of a majority of families
in the area. But pastry-making in Sassello is more than about amaretti:
canestrelli, baci di dama, panettoni, all take on a special local flavour
.
The art tourist knows very well that no Italian city, no matter how small, should be taken lightly when it comes to artistic treasures. Sassello does not break that rule, and its offerings date back to the early times.
The Museo Perrando takes visitors back to prehistoric times, and then through the middle ages up to the last century, showing them, among other things, items as diverse as neolithic weapons and old papal bullae. The ruins of two old castles will transport them to the 13th and 15th centuries, and several old churches, the last of which was completed in 1725, well into the baroque era, will guide them through the evolution of religious art as it was expressed in a city which, in the past, was of no mean importance.
All told, the municipality of Sassello covers an area of over 100 km2 and is one of the largest in Liguria. A large portion – mostly wooded expanses – of this area also belongs to the Beigua Natural Park. Owing to the authentic beauty of its territory and the wealth of its historical and artistic legacy, Sassello was the first community to be awarded the Orange Flag, a token of the quality of a touristic and natural site in the hinterland.
Located on the northern side of the Ligurian Apennines, Sassello stands at 380 m above sea level. Nearby Mount Beigua towers at 1287 m and, from its summit, one has a clear view on Corsica, most of Liguria, Monte Rosa and the Maritime Alps.
The relief is diverse, and so is the flora, ranging from evergreens to chestnuts to magnificent beech groves, grasslands and bare rock. Roe deer, foxes, badgers, jays, hoopoes, falcons, and herons are part of the living fauna of the area; numerous fossils are a reminder of an earlier fauna, which caters to the tastes of zoologists and various specialists of times past.
Being close to both mountains and the sea, Sassello enjoys a bit of both climates, and winds blow both warm and cold. The weather is decidedly cooler than on the nearby Flower Riviera, but winter snow often yields to balmy breezes within a few days.
Belonging neither to the Alps nor to the coast, Mount Beigua smacks a bit of both owing to the beautiful views it gives on the mountains and on the sea and to the characteristic way its vegetation is distributed on its northern and southern slopes. Beigua Natural Park is a place for all seasons: