Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 9 hours ago
It is a superb manor located in a dominant position over the Bormida valley, from whose tower it was possible to control the vast area that goes from the hills of Acqui to the West as far as Alessandria. It is a superb manor house in a dominant position over the Bormida valley, from whose tower it was possible to control the vast area that goes from the hills of Acqui to the West to beyond Alessandria to the East, from the Monte Rosa massif to the North to the Ligurian Apennines to the South. The castle was once of more modest dimensions, it was enlarged in various stages by the various masters who succeeded one another: by the Malaspina family during the 15th century, by the Trentino counts of Lodrone in the 16th century and at the beginning of the 18th century by the Genoese Centurione Princes. Inside the castle there is a large hall once used for playing tennis, the apartments of the castellans, two beautiful frescoed rooms decorated with ancient fireplaces, and finally horrible prisons where you can still read graffiti and inscriptions left there by the ancient and unfortunate prisoners. On the south-east tower a stone panel is still perfectly visible where the coat of arms of the Centurione Scotto has been carved; on the corners of the same tower there are lion heads, the heraldic symbol of the Counts of Lodrone. The Centurions, who became Princes of the Holy Roman Empire in 1654, had the right to exercise criminal jurisdiction (including capital) over their subjects of Morsasco; as evidence of this, there is still today a house called "del Boia" near the "porta dell'orologio" overlooking the town square. The building retains this name because here was placed the beam where the "canapo" hung, used to inflict the "strokes of rope": the criminal was stripped and was "pulled up" with his wrists tied to a rope passing through a trap. He remained hanging for a few minutes, then was let fall. The creaking of the trap combined with the screams of the accused, which after some time turned into moans, offered the scene a spectacularity that was meant to be a deterrent to the repetition of criminal episodes. The drawbridge and the moat no longer exist, replaced in 1740 by a stone bridge and subsequently buried. At the beginning of the enclosure you can see a beautiful bell tower with a clock that dates back to 1697 and still makes a fine show of itself in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele.
It is a superb manor located in a dominant position over the Bormida valley, from whose tower it was possible to control the vast area that goes from the hills of Acqui to the West as far as Alessandria. It is a superb manor house in a dominant position over the Bormida valley, from whose tower it was possible to control the vast area that goes from the hills of Acqui to the West to beyond Alessandria to the East, from the Monte Rosa massif to the North to the Ligurian Apennines to the South. The castle was once of more modest dimensions, it was enlarged in various stages by the various masters who succeeded one another: by the Malaspina family during the 15th century, by the Trentino counts of Lodrone in the 16th century and at the beginning of the 18th century by the Genoese Centurione Princes. Inside the castle there is a large hall once used for playing tennis, the apartments of the castellans, two beautiful frescoed rooms decorated with ancient fireplaces, and finally horrible prisons where you can still read graffiti and inscriptions left there by the ancient and unfortunate prisoners. On the south-east tower a stone panel is still perfectly visible where the coat of arms of the Centurione Scotto has been carved; on the corners of the same tower there are lion heads, the heraldic symbol of the Counts of Lodrone. The Centurions, who became Princes of the Holy Roman Empire in 1654, had the right to exercise criminal jurisdiction (including capital) over their subjects of Morsasco; as evidence of this, there is still today a house called "del Boia" near the "porta dell'orologio" overlooking the town square. The building retains this name because here was placed the beam where the "canapo" hung, used to inflict the "strokes of rope": the criminal was stripped and was "pulled up" with his wrists tied to a rope passing through a trap. He remained hanging for a few minutes, then was let fall. The creaking of the trap combined with the screams of the accused, which after some time turned into moans, offered the scene a spectacularity that was meant to be a deterrent to the repetition of criminal episodes. The drawbridge and the moat no longer exist, replaced in 1740 by a stone bridge and subsequently buried. At the beginning of the enclosure you can see a beautiful bell tower with a clock that dates back to 1697 and still makes a fine show of itself in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele.
