Albenga

Albenga stands on the western Ligurian coast, near the mouth of the Centa. It was the chief town of the Ingauni, a Ligurian people, before becoming the Roman Albingaunum. The Via Julia Augusta connected it with the coast beyond the Alps, and its bishopric became an important centre of western Liguria.

After a period as a free commune, Albenga accepted Genoese rule under an onerous agreement in 1251. It nevertheless retained a measure of local autonomy and obtained its own statutes in 1288. The city was drawn into the conflicts of Guelphs and Ghibellines and passed through the hands of the Del Carretto, the Visconti and the French before returning to Genoa. Its medieval towers recall the families who shaped the old town.