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Borgo Fornari Castle

The Borgo Fornari Castle was a defensive building and noble residence located in the hamlet of Borgo Fornari in Ronco Scrivia, in the upper Scrivia valley.

Located a ten minute walk from the main road of Borgo Fornari, along an alley called Rian-na, its construction can be dated from 1121 to 1182 on a hill overlooking the important communication route below between the Scrivia valley and the then fiefdom Genoese from Voltaggio.

According to some sources, its construction was commissioned by the Fornari family, originally from Genoa, from which the name of the town derives, already home to a contemporary parish church dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta.

Later the property passed to the noble Genoese Spinola family who stayed here.

A few years after the change of ownership, the castle was at the center of conflicts between the two Spinola and Doria families. In the 15th century the fortress was once again the scene of conflict between the Spinola family and the Republic of Genoa.

Filippo Maria Visconti, an ally of the former, managed to obtain possession of the fortress which he handed over, as established in the peace agreements of May 1419, to Pope Martin V.

Map: Borgo Fornari Castle