{"id":63855,"date":"2026-10-24T11:18:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T11:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/italian-riviera.com\/liguria\/castelbianco\/"},"modified":"2026-10-24T11:21:37","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T11:21:37","slug":"castelbianco","status":"publish","type":"localita","link":"https:\/\/italian-riviera.com\/en\/riviera-di-ponente\/castelbianco\/","title":{"rendered":"Castelbianco"},"content":{"rendered":"

Castelbianco is a small municipality in the Val Pennavaire, in the hinterland of Albenga, in the province of Savona. It has just over 300 inhabitants (311 on 31 May 2026, ISTAT) spread over five hamlets: Veravo, where the town hall is, Vesallo, Oresine, Teccio and Colletta. The land climbs from the valley floor to almost 1,100 metres, through olive groves, chestnut woods and limestone cliffs.<\/p>\n

The name most people search for, though, belongs to one of the hamlets: Colletta di Castelbianco, a stone village of medieval origin. According to several guides it emptied after the 1887 earthquake and stayed almost deserted for decades. In the 1990s it was restored to a design by the architect Giancarlo De Carlo and wired with fibre optics, which is why it is remembered as Italy’s first “telematic village”. Today it is lived in and partly run as an albergo diffuso (rooms and flats scattered through the village). It belongs to the Borghi pi\u00f9 belli d’Italia (Italy’s most beautiful villages).<\/p>\n

This guide covers the whole municipality, not just Colletta: the restored village, the churches of Veravo and Vesallo, the castle ruins, the trails and the climbing crags. Half a day or a full day is enough, and it combines well with the sea at Albenga<\/a> (about 17 km) or with Zuccarello<\/a>, the neighbouring village (about 10 km). The story of Colletta’s restoration, with the dates the sources do not agree on, is in the in-depth page Colletta di Castelbianco: the telematic village<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What to see in Castelbianco<\/h2>\n
\"Colletta<\/figure>\n

The hamlets are a few minutes apart by car, so a car makes everything easier. Colletta, Veravo and Vesallo each take about an hour on foot, stops included. Bring comfortable shoes: the lanes are stone and often steep.<\/p>\n

Colletta di Castelbianco<\/h3>\n
\"Una<\/figure>\n

This is why most visitors come. Colletta is a compact cluster of grey stone houses with white-framed windows, coloured doors, small squares and paved lanes (caruggi<\/em> in Ligurian). According to the guides, the village was probably founded in the 13th century as a defence against Saracen raids. For a long time it belonged to the Clavesana and then the Del Carretto, because it sat on the route between the sea and Piedmont.<\/p>\n

The restoration kept the original shape of the settlement: from outside you see an old village, while the houses inside were rebuilt. Colletta is inhabited and many houses are private or let out, so walk the lanes but do not step into courtyards. It is not a museum, and no opening hours or entry tickets are published: there is no official information on visits \u26a0\ufe0f. The overall recovery plan is covered in the in-depth page on the village.<\/p>\n

The chapel of Santa Lucia and the medieval bridges<\/h3>\n
\"La<\/figure>\n

In the upper part of Colletta you find the chapel and oratory of Santa Lucia. According to Wikivoyage, 13 December, St Lucy’s day, is the hamlet’s feast. Opening hours are not published: you often see them only from outside.<\/p>\n

Around the village a few single-arch medieval bridges survive over the Oresine and Pennavaire streams. One is near Colletta, others are on the mule tracks towards Arnasco and towards Monte Nero. You reach them on foot along the valley trails (see below).<\/p>\n

\"Un<\/figure>\n

Veravo: the parish church of the Assunta and the old centre<\/h3>\n
\"Veravo:<\/figure>\n

Veravo is the largest hamlet and the seat of the town hall, about 3 km from Colletta. The Baroque parish church of Nostra Signora Assunta has an 18th-century organ. Opposite stands the oratory of Santa Caterina, with a single nave and a polygonal apse, while the centre of the village has the chapel of San Francesco di Sales, with a fresco of the saint on an 18th-century altar, and the Palazzo dei Signori, the old rectory.<\/p>\n

The municipality’s patron feast is the Assumption, on 15 August. Opening hours for the churches are not published, so do not count on getting in.<\/p>\n

Vesallo and the sanctuary of the Nunziata<\/h3>\n
\"Il<\/figure>\n

Vesallo is a smaller hamlet on the opposite side of the valley from Veravo. The sanctuary of the Santissima Annunziata, on the square, dates from somewhere between the 13th and 17th centuries and has two bell towers of different heights, one with an onion-shaped spire. Outside the village is the chapel of San Sebastiano. The village is best seen from the road coming from Veravo.<\/p>\n

\"Vesallo,<\/figure>\n

The castle ruins<\/h3>\n
\"I<\/figure>\n

Above Veravo and Vesallo stand the ruins of a castle built by the Clavesana marquises. The name “Castelbianco” may come from this small stronghold, which also helped control the movement of goods between the coast and Piedmont. Genoa used it as a garrison and lookout until the Napoleonic era. No official documents about the castle survive, and there is no information on access or visits: it is a ruin on a hillside, reached on foot.<\/p>\n

Oresine and Teccio<\/h3>\n

Oresine has the 17th-century chapel of Sant’Antonio abate, with a painting of the Madonna and Child with saints. Teccio is a small hamlet on the provincial road. These are places to pass through rather than to visit: they help you complete a loop trail or photograph the valley.<\/p>\n

Walks and hikes<\/h2>\n
\"Veduta<\/figure>\n

A network of trails links the hamlets along old mule tracks. The “Borghi di Riviera” circuit marks a series of loops. They are the easiest way to see the area without committing to a real hike.<\/p>\n