Viguzzolo: sights, history and trails

The coat of arms of Viguzzolo represents a young man who struggles with a lion by grasping it for the jaws, and is accompanied by the motto Fortibus tantum dagger pro Patria.

The municipal emblem takes back the coat of arms of the Squarzoni family, extinct in Tortonese during the fourteenth century but still present in Ferrarese and some areas of Veneto. Many identify the young man struggling with lion with Hercules^[4] but it is more likely to be depicted Samson, than, as reported in Book of Judges (14, 14) he killed a lion with his bare hands by tearing its jaws, and not by suffocating it as Hercules had done.^[5] This hypothesis is strengthened by the motto that accompanies the coat of arms of Squarzoni: Destroyed, which takes up the phrase pronounced by Samson in the Bible: «De comediente exirit tubis, et de forti egressa est dulcedo» ("Food came from the devourer, and sweetness came from the strong").

The banner is a blue cloth.

The parish church of the Assumption is an extension (1598-1603) of the oratory of San Bartolomeo. The baroque façade has a portal with broken timpane; the three aisles inside preserves a higher altar from the church of San Marziano in Tortona. There is also an oratory.

The Monastery of the Annunciation dates back to the 15th century; it hosted nuns of the order and rule of St Augustine and was suppressed in 1770 by Pope Clement XIV. Today it is municipal headquarters, schools and the civic library.

The parish church of Santa Maria is the most important monument in Viguzzolo. The present building was built in the 11th century, although a document of 893 attests that there was already then a cult building, and the presence of architectural elements before the 1000 validates the hypothesis. After a period of development and importance between the 12th and 13th centuries, the parish church was abandoned^[6]. The building is of simple Romanesque construction, with three naves, with three semicircular apses and a double-pitched roof. The façade, decorated with hanging arches divided irregularly by pilasters, has a round arched door and a circular oculus, probably built, like the small bell tower, in a later period. Inside, the naves are divided into four bays of quadrangular pillars with adjacent and opposing semi-columns. In the right nave there is access to the crypt consisting of three small naves punctuated by stone columns and capitals that support cross vaults. The parish church is owned by the Municipality of Viguzzolo and is normally closed to the public.

• 
  Public and parish park of S. Mary
• 
  Pieve di S. Maria: apse
• 
  Wooden crucifix, 16th century

Inhabitants registered^[7]

The municipality was part of the union of common hilly communities Colli Tortonesi until 2006 and then founded the hill community Basso Grue Curone^[9] of which he is still a member.

A Viguzzolese team miliated in the 1929-30-31 championships of the ULIC federation^[10] and in the Third Division 1932-33 of FIGC.

The current team, the U.S. Viguzzolese, founded in 1963,^[10] after years spent in Piedmont promotion^[11] milita between First and Second category Piemonte and Aosta Valley.^[12]

On 19 May 2024, after a historic final playoff won in reassembly to the additional,^[13] Viguzzolese is promoted in First Category.^[12]