Rocchetta Belbo is the first village in the Alta Langa that you come across going up the Belbo Valley. Located on the banks of the Belbo river, it has always had to live with the moods of the stream, which often caused violent overflows (in 1857 much of the country was destroyed by the fury of the waters).
The central square is dominated on one side by a sort of 70s condominium, and a double row of trees in front of the parish church of San Nicolao.
The main festival is the one that takes place in honor of Sant’Anna, the penultimate Sunday of July.
History
Rocchetta Belbo ruled the Langhe road once known as the “Magistra Langarum”.
Over the centuries there were many to contend for his possession: from the Angiò, to the Visconti of Milan, to the German emperors, to the French, to the Spanish.
Among the historical curiosities Rocchetta boasts in 1244, beginning of November, the passage of Pope Innocent IV, who fled to France so as not to fall into the hands of Frederick II.
For the rest, the invading armies in the pay of the powerful of turn were passing through the country:
the Anjou, the Visconti, German, French or Spanish emperors, Marquis of Monferrato and so on to end with the Savoy.
This political solution brings a certain advantage for our population, reducing the taxes to be paid and giving ample freedom regarding the market for salt, wine, tobacco and silk cocoons.
This political solution brings a certain advantage for our population, reducing the taxes to be paid and giving ample freedom regarding the market for salt, wine, tobacco and silk cocoons.
After the French revolution, in the Italian countryside, Napoleon invaded our lands, demanding money, cariaggi and penalties and then abandoning hundreds of sick soldiers to be treated in Cossano and Santo Stefano.
With the fall of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna (1814), foreign domination in Piedmont ended and King Vittorio Emanuele I returned, acclaimed as “true grace of God”.
From the documents of the past we can also deduce interesting information on the type of occupation that the inhabitants of Rocchetta had: taxes to be paid to the various feudal lords were fulfilled in foodstuffs (formerly called in these parts with the name of “rose”) among which they had particular importance chestnuts, wine, mushrooms and game.
This could be an explanation for the large number of hunters, fishermen and truffle and mushroom hunters left in the country.
Unfortunately, the country was damaged by floods in the years 1858, 1861, 1926, 1948, 1968 and 1994.
Muscat vineyards, hazel groves, modern orchards are today the sign of an entrepreneurial vitality that continues to have its focus in agriculture.