Stellanello
Greetings to Stellanello
Hello friends, today I want to talk to you about a small town in Liguria, Stellanello. This charming village is located in the province of Savona and is inhabited by 855 people. The town hall is located in the Rossi district, in the San Gregorio fraction.
A land of legends
The history of this place is fascinating. Its name seems to be linked to a popular legend that tells the sad story of Andalora and Stefanello. It seems that the Saracen prince Al Kadir kidnapped the beautiful Andalora and tied her to the main mast of his ship. Stefanello, the girl's intended husband, tried to save her, but was discovered and killed. With grief, Andalora threw herself into the sea. The sacrifice of the two young people pushed Prince Al Kadir to convert to Christianity, and so the two neighboring towns of Andora and Stellanello carry these names in their memory today.
An ancient history
The first document concerning Stellanello dates back to 1170, when the valley was still part of the vast possessions of the Marquisate of Clavesana. On the hills of the San Gregorio fraction, the lords of the fiefdom built a beautiful castle, of which only the ruins remain today. During the seventeenth century, the fiefdom passed to the Doria family, princes of Melfi and lords of Loano.
The first Statute of Stellanello
In 1303, Stellanello adopted its own Statute, one of the oldest in Liguria. Four consuls and sixteen councillors were in charge of public administration and justice.
Illustrious figures
In 1462, Messer Francesco Divizia, a wealthy lord from Perugia, took refuge in Stellanello due to internal strife in the city of Perugia. Among his descendants there were many important figures, including Marco Ambrogio Divizia, who in the sixteenth century was captain of the Corazzieri and commander of the galleys of Prince Andrea Doria, and the priest Marco Antonio Divizia, who established the Opera Pia Divizia for the education of young people in the area.
From annexation to the Republic of Liguria to the present
With the preliminaries of the Peace of Vienna in 1738, the fiefdom of Stellanello was subjected to the Kingdom of Sardinia. In 1801, it was annexed to the Republic of Liguria and in 1803 became part of the V canton of Capo Mele. In 1804, the former municipalities of Testico, Cappella Soprana, San Damiano, San Gregorio, San Vincenzo and Villarelli were incorporated into the single municipality of Stellanello. Today, Stellanello is a peaceful village immersed in nature, where it is worth stopping and visiting its historic sites and the small church of San Giovanni Battista.
