Savona - History

History

Inhabited in ancient times by Ligures tribes, it came under Roman influence in c. 180 BC, after the Punic wars in which the city had been allied to Carthage. At the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it passed under Lombard rule in 641 (being destroyed in the attack) after a short period as an Ostrogoth and then Byzantine possession. Later it recovered as county seat in the Carolingian Empire. In the tenth century its bishops were counts of Savona, but later the countship passed to the marquesses of Monferrato (981) and afterwards to the marquesses Del Vasto (1084);

After a long struggle against the Saracens, Savona acquired independence in the 11th century becoming a free municipality allied with Emperor. Savona was center of religious culture (XIII - XVI) thanks to the work of two important monasteries: Dominicans and Franciscans. Subsequently it fought Genoa before being definitively conquered in 1528, that destroyed the upper town and burying the port. It then shared the fortunes of the Republic of Genoa until Napoleonic times, and subsequent annexation to the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont (1815).