Montebruno

An agricultural centre in the upper Trebbia Valley, it boasts ancient origins. Evidence of this can be seen in the historical connections in the year 1000 between the church of S. Onorato di Torriglia and the church dedicated to S. Maria with the annexed "hospitale" of Montebruno, a place of refuge and rest for merchants, horsemen and pilgrims travelling along the "caminus janue", a medieval connection route between the river port of Piacenza and that of Genoa. In 1164, the Malaspina family received the feud of the castle of Montebruno from Frederick Barbarossa. In the second half of the 17th century Montebruno was the seat, for a short time, of a mint for the production of 'luigini and octavetti' with the effigy of Violante Doria. In memory of the Napoleonic period, a colourful hot-air balloon festival is organised in the locality every year, linked to the accident that befell Sophie Blanchard who fell here in 1811 with her own balloon. The locality is home to the Photographic Museum of Balloon Flight. Today, in addition to the four-arched stone bridge over the Trebbia, you can visit the Museum of Peasant Culture with its extensive collection of material, the Bookbinding Museum and the Augustinian Sanctuary of N.S. di Montebruno, dating back to 1496. The aforementioned hamlet is also part of the Antola Regional Natural Park: one of the most enchanting areas of the Apennines and the Ligurian hinterland, thanks to the extraordinary panorama of the 1600 m Mount Antola and the activities of the nearby Brugneto Lake.