Atlas of Monferrato

Pareto: sights, history and trails

Alessandria

Elevation: 476 m s.l.m.
Area: 41.74 km²
Demonym: Walloon
Patron saint: Saints Peter and Paul

A closer look

Discovering Pareto

Pareto (Parèj in Piedmont and Liguria) is an Italian municipality of 514 inhabitants^[1] from the province of Alessandria in the Piemonte, on the border with the province of Savona. The municipality has linguistic and economic ties with Savona and the Riviera di Ponente from which it is only 30 km. The village is 27 km away Acqui Terme, 37 km from Ovada, 60 km from Genoa and from Alessandria. It is part of the union of municipalities Sound of Aleramo.

Origins of the name

The name of the village was mistakenly interpreted according to a wall that connects it to the Latin piretus, "pereto". Of course, it is a question of the...Explore this chapter

The name of the village has been mistakenly interpreted according to a muramology that connects it to Latin piretus, "pereto". This is evidently a Paretymology, deriving, instead, the toponym from the Indo-European root *br- / *bar-, meaning "rock", "stone", "hill", "mountain", "slope", = Latin pǎrǐēs, "rock wall", "mountain wall". The toponym would have originated in the Indo-European era (Par. ~ Par- < PIE *br- / *bar-, "stone", "hill", "mountain", "slope", + -eto (Latin) -etum, 'village'] = *breto / *bar-eto → *par-eto = Pareto, "village that stands on a hill")^[4].

History of Pareto

SymbolsExplore this chapter

After the assault and destruction of Giusvalla Abbey by the Saracens and the continuous raids on the territory, after a few years such episodes convinced Anselmo, son of Marquis Aleramo, to erect the new abbey of San Quintino^[5] of the Spigno Monferrato in the Alexandrian, as a form of contrast to the raids and defense of the pilgrims and the commercial way along the road between Savona and Acqui Terme.

The village was then included in the Aleramic Brand from the 10th century^[5], and became the possession of Bonifacio del Vasto in 1091 and in 1142 it became a feudal dominion of the Del Carretto family^[5].

In the following centuries, the territory changed several times its owners, first passing through the Marchesato di Ponzone and then by division into the Marchesato del Bosco.

Until 1 January 1880 it belonged to the province of Genoa; on that date it passed to that of the Alessandria^[6].

Symbols

The coat of arms and gonfalone of the municipality of Pareto were granted by decree of the President of the Republic of 11 September 1996.^[7]

"From the blue, to the silver tower, walled of black, put on the four guelph, closed of black, windowed with round windows of the same, it tower placed right, founded on the green countryside and accompanied left by the green pear tree, fruity of five gold, fustato al naturale, nodrito nel campagna; all under the head of red, loaded of the crown, markal, natural. Exterior ornaments from Commune.^[8]»

The gonfalone is a yellow drape bordered with blue.

What to see in Pareto

The village is dominated by the parish church of St. Peter and the castle, transformed into a private residence, in which underground a local legend tells the presence of a...Explore this chapter

The village is dominated by the parish church of St. Peter and the castle, transformed into a private residence, in which underground a local legend tells the presence of a mysterious golden calf.

Other religious buildings are:

The chapel of San Martino, on the road connecting with Mioglia
The chapel of Santa Rosalia, along the road connecting with Spigno Monferrato
The 17th century oratory, adjacent to the parish, transformed into cinema-theater in the second post-war period

Society

Demographic evolutionExplore this chapter

Demographic evolution

In the last hundred years, starting from 1921, the resident population has been is reduced by 75 %.

Inhabitants registered^[9]

Administration

TwinningExplore this chapter

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

Period		First citizen	Match	Load	Notes
June 17, 1985	May 25, 1990	Gian Piero Minetti	civic list	Mayor	^[10]
May 25, 1990	April 24, 1995	Gian Piero Minetti	Italian Democratic Socialist Party	Mayor	^[10]
April 24, 1995	June 14, 1999	Gian Piero Minetti	center	Mayor	^[10]
June 14, 1999	June 14, 2004	Gian Piero Minetti	civic list	Mayor	^[10]
June 14, 2004	June 8, 2009	Andrea Giuseppe Bava	civic list	Mayor	^[10]
June 8, 2009	May 26, 2014	Andrea Giuseppe Bava	List of Civics in United States Pareto	Mayor	^[10]
May 26, 2014	May 26, 2019	Walter Borreani	civic list Pareto bene comune	Mayor	^[10]
May 26, 2019	June 9, 2024	Walter Borreani	civic list Pareto bene comune	Mayor	^[10]
June 9, 2024	in office	Walter Borreani	civic list Pareto bene comune	Mayor	^[10]

Twinning

Cauto Cristo

Notes

Explore this chapter

^ ^to ^b Monthly demographic balance for the year 2026 (provisional data), up demo.istat.it, ISTAT.
^ Seismic classification (XLS), up risks.protezionecivile.gov.it.
^ Table of degrees/day of Italian Municipalities grouped by Region and Province (PDF), in Law 26 August 1993, n. 412, annex A, National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, 1 March 2011, p. 151. URL consulted on 25 April 2012 (archived fromoriginal url on 1 January 2017).
^ Francesco Perono Cacciafoco, Beyond Etymology: Historical Reconstruction and Diachronic Toponomastics through the Lens of a New Convergence Theory, in Acta Linguistica: Journal for Theoretical Linguistics, vol. 8, no. 3, 2014, pp. 92-93.
^ ^to ^b ^c Source from the book Enzo Bernardini, Edges in the green. Journey to the hinterland of the Ligurian Riviera delle Palme, San Mauro (TO), Tipografia Stige, 2003.
^ Law 11 January 1880, n. 5248, regarding "Law detaching the municipality of Pareto in the province of Genoa, from the mandate of Dego, and aggregates it to the sending of Spigno Monferrato (Alessandria)."
^ Pareto, decree 1996-09-11 DPR, concession of coat of arms and gonfalone, up Central State Archive. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
^ Pareto, up araldicacivica.it. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
^
Data taken from:
- Resident population of the municipalities. Censuses from 1861 to 1991 (PDF), up ebiblio.istat.it, ISTAT.
- Resident population - Time series, up exploredati.istat.it.
  Please note: 2021 data refers to permanent census data as of December 31 of that year.
^ ^to ^b ^c ^d ^And ^f ^g ^h ^the http://amministratori.interno.it/