Mombaldone

The Village of Details

The Name

In antiquity, Mombaldone was Mons Baldus (from the Germanic Bald, “mount”), the hill on which stood the eight manses of the monastery of S. Quintino di Spigno.

History

• 6th-7th centuries: Mombaldone is under the dominion of the Lombards.
• 991: on the 4th of May Mombaldone emerges from anonymity for the first time with a citation in a public document, the act of foundation of the Abbey of S. Quentin in Spigno Monferrato: Anselmo, son of the deceased Aleramo I (in 967 owner of the March of Savona-Monferrato), endows the monastery he founded with lands, including the eight manses of Mons Baldonis.
• 1209: on the 6th of July, in the market of the Duomo of Asti, Ottone Del Carretto is invested with the fief of Mombaldone, which remains in possession of the Del Carretto of Savona for the rest of the Middle Ages.
• ca 1280-1340: in this period Mombaldone experiences rapid growth thanks especially to Enrico IV Del Carretto, marquis of Finale: new houses are built, together with a well, further defensive works around the castle and covered passages.
• 1382: Amedeus VI of Savoy has the coats of arms of his house raised over the fief of Mombaldone. The Savoy’s authority over the fief is confirmed in 1531 by the emperor Carlo V, who concedes many privileges to the Del Carretto di Savona marquises, including the title of Vicar Imperial of the Holy Roman Empire, and the right to confer degrees and mint coins.
• 1637: on the 8th of September, a Spanish attempt to occupy the castle is thwarted by Frankish-Savoy troops commanded by Vittorio Amedeo of Savoy, who confronts the enemy in the plain of the river Bormida, in front of Mombaldone. The castle is destroyed during the conflict.
• 1706-1708: at the end of the long war of succession of Monferrato and on the eve of the formation of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720), the fief of Mombaldone is confirmed as Savoy territory within the Savoy Monferrato. All quarrels having been repressed, a long period of tranquility begins for the village. The first attempts at silk growing appear at the end of the 18th century, an activity encouraged by the Del Carretto rulers, bringing the population well-being until the end of the 19th century.

A medieval rarity in the Langa

Immersed in the ravines, like an oasis in a desert of tufa sweetened with broom, Mombaldone is the only village in the Langa of Asti that is still surrounded by its original walls.

To walk along its unique central road, from which branch off narrow lanes and passages, archivolts and courtyards, means to cover a distance of memory, a voyage back in time. The chief color is the grey of the houses and the ochre of the dry walls, enlivened every now and then by the red of the ancient Piedmontese bricks left to surface deliberately through skilful restoration.

The ancient fortified village, medieval in character and still well-preserved, rose during the Roman period near the course of the Aemilia Scauri road, a tract of the more famous Julia Augusta road which led from the Ligurian Sabazia (Savona) to the passes for the Po valley. The village meanders over two sections which are separated by the castle, now in ruins. The houses, characterized by medieval structures, present sandstone trimmings, from the window sills and portals (some with the Del Carretto coat of arms) to the archways. Many have façades in brick or stonework.
The urban layout is simple: a linear plan served by a single master street, paved in porphyry and luserna. The village is reinforced towards the valley by strong defensive walls.

Starting from via Cervetti, we can admire the Gothic-style entrance door to the shelter, which has preserved its original medieval form. This constitutes the entranceway to the ancient village. The town presents a linear layout, with its axis along the main street, and is rich in Renaissance buildings that have been restructured, embellished or rebuilt between the mid-17th century and modern times. The most important monuments converge on piazza Umberto I, the center of the village.

The first is the Oratory of SS. Fabiano e Sebastiano, erected over the castle moat in 1764, upon the design of Pietro Barozzi, and restored in 1995-1997: the large and sober hall, with decorations dating to 1883, currently hosts conventions, exhibits, meetings and cultural and musical performances.

The second is the parish church of S. Nicola, constructed on a hexagonal plan in 1790, also over the castle moat, work of Giovanni Matteo Zucchi. The interior houses 17th-century paintings and a colossal organ built by the Fratelli Collino of Turin in 1885.
Going past the piazza, the street climbs towards the highest peak of the village, where the town disappears into the country. The visitor walks beside what is left of the castle (13th-14th centuries), partially demolished in 1637.

At the center of the castle rises a square tower, now little more than a ruin, demolished not only by time and neglect but also by noble volition. In fact it was the marquis Aleramo del Carretto, to whose family the investiture of the fief of Mombaldone was conceded from 1209, who donated a part of the stones of the tower in order to allow for the completion of the stretch of railway linking Mombaldone to Spigno. Del Carretto’s descendants still live in the castle: they no longer dominate over its inhabits, but rather they lovingly safeguard the preservation of the village and its historic and cultural identity. In fact in via Roma, between the massive wall of the castle and the dark Portiola - a tunnel supported by stonework vaulting connecting the master street to a steep descent at the bottom of which was located, near the river, the watering-place of the horses ready to be ridden in case of precipitous flight - we find the palace known as “the fortress”. This massive edifice, with its exterior in stonework, already documented in 1209 and repeatedly restructured, has been the seat of the “Aldilà” since 1981, a restaurant of international appeal, where the marquise Gemma Del Carretto leads her guests into fascinating halls with an Enlightenment atmosphere and giuseppino and teresino (thus 18th-century) furnishings. Here the noble history of the family is an essential ingredient.
Passing over the modern portion of the village, which began to take shape in 1870 around the railway constructions of the Acqui-Savona line, we can search for the old Molino di Mombaldone (16th-17th centuries), the mill located to the north of the bridge over the Bormida.

This ancient construction guaranteed the survival of the local community over the centuries, but now lacks its original equipment.

Local Products

Goats, kids, rams; it is not unusual to encounter them in Mombaldone.

Led out to pasture by a dog and an elderly countryman, they climb up the most arid of gullies to graze on shrubbery, grasses and aromatic herbs, giving the milk a very particular flavor.

After a period of stagnation, goat-farming is now making a comeback, thanks above all to the good earnings guaranteed by Robiola of Roccaverano, a mild, creamy cheese with the Protected Designation of Origin mark. Even famous restaurants have discovered the delicacy of the kid meat of this land.

The most important farms select reproduction rams in order to guarantee the health of the species and the maintenance of traditional qualities.

Local dishes

Mombaldone’s menu starts with an assorted appetizer and continues with a starter of home-made pasta, while for the main course the choice is between the roasted kid or mutton, tripe or assorted boiled meats in green sauce, or a delicate Robiola of Roccaverano PDO accompanied by jam or honey.