Spinetta Marengo

News of the area Marenghum well before the foundation of the city of Alessandria.

Marengo was a curia regis longobarda and the first documented sources come from that flourishing period. It is known for certain that the Lombard kings frequented the forests of Marengo and Orba in times before those of Liutprando: King Cuniperto and the usurper Alachis used to hunt on those lands.^[2].

The importance of the western backland, Marengo included, was favored in Carolingian age to preside and participate in the defense of Ligurian coasts especially against Arab piracy. In February 825 Lotario I organized an expedition against the Saracens of Corsica during a stay at the court of Marengo^[3].

Another example from the chronicles before the city of Alessandria it can be found in the year 898 when the news of the death of Emperor Lamberto II of Spoleto spread. Lamberto had an accident during a hunting trip to Marengo, «On site Marinco [...] cecidisse collumque fregisse»^[4]. According to Liutprand of Cremona, the emperor did not have an accident, but was murdered by Hugh of Maginfred, during the hunting trip, to take revenge for the killing of his father Maginfred^[5][6]. To date, however, historians accept the thesis of accidental death^[7].

On June 14, 1800 it was the scene of an important battle between the French army under Napoleon and the Austrian army led by General Melas. The French victory strengthened the power of the future emperor and allowed him to regain the dominion of Italy. During the battle, French general Desaix died.

In 1928, at the village of Marengo, during agricultural excavations in a field owned by the Pederbona farmhouse, precious finds from Roman times were found.^[8] of the 2nd century.

The objects, all in bad conditions, included among others: a loricated bust depicting the Emperor Lucio Vero made to embalzo in silver foil, a "ansata car" also of silver, with a dedication "Fortuna Melior" by Marco Vindio Veriano, commander of the Fleet Flavia standing in the Mesia at the end of the second century, a silver vase decorated with female leaves.

Bottino of a plunder, probably in late Roman times, is believed that the finds come from a sacello dedicated to "Fortuna Melior" or a college used for imperial worship, located in the city of Pavia, the ancient Ticinum.

Subposed to restoration, the objects are now preserved in the Museum of Antiquities of Turin.

The story linked to the discovery and delivery of the treasure to the state is wrapped in mystery. The official version of the prof. Bendinelli says that the owner of Pederbona, the Cavalier Romualdo Tartara, attempted to sell the treasure to Genoese antiquarians, but he was convinced to take them to the general direction of Antiquities and Fine Arts in Rome, receiving in 1935 a payment of 550 000 lire. Witnesses and facts later showed that much of the findings disappeared after delivery to Roman authorities.

A first attempt to reconstruct the events of that time took place in 1968-1969 by a graduate, with a limited research which revealed the almost certain disappearance of a substantial quantity of finds and all relevant official documents. Recently a renewed interest in the issue, strongly promoted by the nephew of the discoverer interested in escaping every shadow on the honorability of the family, is confirming what has always been asserted by the Tartara in the reconstruction of the affair: the Tartara have never cashed any reward.

The museum dedicated to the battle is located inside Villa Delavo, built in 1846 by pharmacist Giovanni Antonio Delavo. Inside are preserved artefacts and relics of the time.

The new Museum, inaugurated in 2010, has a strong multimedia and interactive footprint, with works created by contemporary artists. Outside the Museum there is the park of the villa. The symbol of the Marengo Museum is the Pyramid, built in 2009 taking inspiration from an idea of Napoleon himself, who wanted to remember in this way the glory of victory and soldiers fallen into battle, first among all his General Desaix.

In front of the museum there is a column with bronze eagle, installed by the administration of Alessandria, in 1801, subtracted by the Austrians after the fall of Napoleon and reported on site in 1918.

A short distance from the museum rises the fourteenth-century "Torre dei Gamberini" (or the Stortiglioni), by the name of two of the ancient families who founded Alessandria^[9][10][11] The square-based tower is also known as the "Torre di Teodolinda" because it is associated with the popular tradition of the Lombard queen lived between the 6th and 7th centuries.^[10][11]

Spinetta Marengo has a station located on the railway Alessandria-Piacenza.

In the 1920s-1940s, the railway connection was created at the service of the chemical plant.

Between 1880 and 1933 Spinetta Marengo was served by two tram lines:

• Alessandria-Sale;
• Marengo-Mandrogne.