Camerana: a medieval tower in the Alta Langa

In the heart of the Alta Langa, on the hilly border between Piedmont and Liguria, the scattered municipality of Camerana gathers its many small hamlets across the upper Bormida valley. Above the borgo of Villa rises the slender stone tower that has become the emblem of the whole community.

The tower on the salt road

Camerana is first named in the 10th century as a fortified house guarding one of the old salt roads that linked the Ligurian coast with the Piedmontese interior. The tower, built of stone in 1268, is all that fully survives of a castle later held by the Del Carretto and Saluzzo families and finally by the House of Savoy, which turned it into a residence; wrecked by an earthquake in 1889 and partly pulled down, it was restored and can be visited by arrangement. Nearby stands the Baroque church of the Annunciation, built in 1759 by the architect Francesco Gallo.

Source of the Belbo

Within the municipality lies the nature reserve protecting the source of the river Belbo, a green corner of chestnut woods and damp meadows known for its rare wild orchids, threaded with quiet walking paths.

Where it is

Camerana lies at around 525 metres, roughly seventy kilometres south-east of Turin and about fifty north-east of Cuneo.