Cerreto Grue: sights, history and trails

The name Cerreto (place where the cerri grow) was added Grue (the stream that flows downstream of the country) not to confuse it with other Italian municipalities of similar denomination. At the beginning of the 19th century it was called Malta's Cerreto, because in case of rain the roads in the area were very muddy.^[4]

The discovery of archaeological finds confirms the existence of a Roman settlement in the territory of the municipality. The first reliable news of the resort dates back to 1196, when a document from the capitular archive of Tortona mentions a rebound of Cerreto prevosto of the cathedral of Tortona. The present inhabited area was built around a “redute sarrato”, a fortified place belonging to the family “de Cerreto”, known as Pernigotti from the 16th century. The medieval fortified nucleus is still traceable in the Vicolo della Torre, a quadrangular stone structure (sec. XIII-XIV), and at the corner of via Grue and Via Roma, with a terracotta tower (sec. XIV-XV) with shoe wall. The “from Cerreto” already in the 13th century with Giovanni di Guglielmo participated in the administrative life of Tortona. In 1409 the lords of Cerreto and Cornegliasca joined the league of the Ghibelline families of Tortona district tied to Filippo Maria Visconti. The locality in the Statutes of Tortona of the fourteenth century is belonging to the city district. In 1362 his territory was devastated by mercenaries commanded by the leader Alberto Sterz. In 1541 66 people with 17 fires (6 families were Pernigotti), increased to 163 in 1592. In 1642 the country was plundered by French troops. In 1647 the community paid for not being infeuded to Captain Nicolò Maria Busseti of Tortona, but only in 1689 the cervishes renounced autonomy and agreed to be infeudated to the brothers Biagio Gaetano and Carlo Alessandro Busseti and in 1778 to the Marquis Emilio Signoris-Busseti, husband of Anna, last of the Busseti, until the suppression of feudalism (1797). In 1798, the republican municipality was proclaimed under Ottavio Regaglio; in 1802 he was appointed mayor by the French Stefano Valenti. In 1814 and 1818, the municipality was included by the Savoy in the mandate of Viguzzolo.

• Parish church of San Giorgio, rebuilt in the 18th century in place of a previous building; the bell tower dates back to 1896^[4].

Below is a table relating to the administrations that have succeeded one another in this municipality.