Castel Boglione

Castel Boglione is part of a wine region par excellence; hidden in the hills a few kilometers from Acqui Terme, you don’t end up here by chance.

Today its appearance is largely that of a modern village, dominated by the parish church and especially the huge structures of the wine cooperative and the various firms related to it, all operating internationally in the field of viticulture, along with a large group of small and medium-sized farms.

History

Inhabited by the Ligurians and the Celts in ancient times, the first reliable information about Castel Boglione traces back to around 1230 with the founding of Nizza Monferrato.

Several castles were destroyed (with a ban to erect them again) in neighboring villages, including Castelvero and Belmonte located in a region which is currently part of the municipality of Castel Boglione.

In 1617 the territory of Castelvero, while remaining a district of Nizza was transferred from the Duke of Mantua and Montferrat Ferdinando Gonzaga to Alessandro Senesio along with the title of Count.

The fief was subsequently transferred to Francesco Bulgarini who obtained its separation from Nizza Monferrato and the status of Commune on 8 April 1653.

According to a census conducted by the parish priest Giovanni Battista Gaino of Cartosio in 1668 the population consisted of 531 persons and a description of 1675 attests to the existence of three churches: the parish church, the Disciplinante and San Martino (the latter included a farmhouse belonging to the Order of the Knights of Malta).

At the time in the region “wheat, hay and other supplies were not abundant but the region abounded in wine, chestnut groves and forests.”

As from 1739 the town adopted “rural regulations” (bandi campestri), i.e. law and order regulations meticulously protecting crops and especially vineyards.

Among other things, fines were envisaged for the theft of ordinary grapes, which were doubled in case of special grapes, such as Moscatello, Luglienga, Passola, Malvasia, and the like.

At the beginning of 1900 the new majestic parish church was erected.

On 5 May 1954 the wine cooperative, Antica Contea di Castelvero, was inaugurated.