Parodi Ligure: sights, history and trails

It is cited as Palode in a document of the year 973, concerning his sale, along with other territories, to the priest Roprando by Lamberto, son of Marquis Ildebrando (perhaps a fictitious sale orchestrated by the wife of the marquis in order to prevent such territories from passing into inheritance to the relatives of him).

The Marquis of the descent of Obertenghi, was assigned by him, in 1033, to the Parma monastery of Santa Maria di Castiglione. These Benedictine monks reclaimed the area and built, in the valley floor crossed by the Albedosa stream, the Monastery of San Remigio which achieved considerable prestige in the medieval centuries.

In the 11th century, on the highest rocky spur, a castle was built in which at least five generations of feudal lords took place who gave themselves the title of Marchesi di Parodi. In the middle of the twelfth century a wall was built that enclosed the castle and all the top of the hill, the area is still in the twenty-first century called Reguardia. The jurisdiction of the Marches included a vast area that came to confine with the powerful Republic of Genoa, which had on the expansionist myre zone, not so militaryly when in the mercantile sense it mitigated the duties imposed by the local feudal lords. In 1148 the Marquis Alberto of Parodi, held prisoner by the lords of Castelletto d'Orba, he was freed thanks to the intervention of the Genoese who obtained the sale of the castle in exchange. Various events followed and the definitive transfer of all rights took place in 1223, from then on Parodi followed the fate of the Republic of Genoa.

Almost nothing remains of the castle and very little of the fortification. The hardest hits, which led to the depletion of these buildings, date back to 1625 during the war waged by French and Savoiardi to the failed conquest of Genoa and to the next century with the repercussions of the Austrian succession war.

Until the middle of the 19th century Parodi remained administratively tied to Genoa. In 1859 the c.d. Rattazzi decreed the Province of Novi, of which Parodi was a member, aggregating it to the Province of Alessandria. A few years later, in 1873, the name of the municipality was modified by Parodi in Parodi Ligure, in memory of the historical ties with Genoa.

In March 1945 it was the subject of a Nazi retaliation, due to partisan attacks in the area, with the fire of numerous houses and the municipality. The parodesis, crossing the forest at night, took refuge in the nearby village of San Cristoforo. In the twenty-first century a stone frescoed at the entrance of the new town hall recalls the episode, in the name of the ancient friendship and solidarity that binds the inhabitants of the two countries.^[6]

Shortly after liberation, the fractions of Bosio, Capanne di Marcarolo, Costa San Stefano, Maietto, Mogreto, Serra, Spessa, Val Pagani formed the new municipality of Bosio (66,88 km2) bringing the municipal surface from 79,38 km2 alone 12.50 km².

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