Noli

Ancient Roman pagus, already known in Byzantine times for its territorial strategicity, the village began its ascent of maritime power participating in the first crusade. Subsequently, it became an independent municipality and became, with imperial recognition, a Maritime Republic, allied with Genoa in the struggle against Pisa and Venice.

In the Divine Comedy by Dante the village is cited, witnessing the importance and the untouched beauty that it enjoyed at the time. Noli, with its red brick towers, sheltered by winds and set between Capo Vescovado and Capo Noli, gives one of Liguria’s most impressive views.

History Of ancient origins, a place inhabited first by the Ligurians and then became a town hall in Roman times, its name probably derive from Neapolis, a "new city". During the medieval period it became Byzantine and later dominated by the Lombards that destroyed it in 641. With the decay of the Carolingian Empire it became part of the possessions of the Marca Aleramica and of the Del Carretto Family. Around the year 1000 it became an important and strategic naval centre with a large naval fleet, so that it could participate in the first Crusade in 1099, receiving political and commercial privileges from the King of Jerusalem Baldwin I, Bohemond I of Antioch and Tancred of Sicily. Noli was subsequently the fief of Henry II Del Carretto until 1193 when, with an official deed drafted inside the church of San Paragorio it managed to escape from the power of the Del Carretto Family; In this way, the privileges acquired by Noli's citizens were confirmed in 1196 by Henry VI of Swabia, with the establishment of the Municipality and free independent Republic, with statutes considered among the oldest in Liguria, from 1192 to 1797. The alliance with the nearby Republic of Genoa was strategic, with equal rights agreements between the parties and consolidated with the Pisan struggle to gain control within the Tyrrhenian Sea. During the 1200s, the village built more than seventy city towers, enclosing itself within walls, and the military-political deployment towards the cause of the Lombard League against Frederick II of Swabia favoured Gregory IX's recognition of the 1239 constitution in the diocese of Noli. The separation from the curia of Savona lasted until 1820, with the subsequent joining of the current diocese of Savona-Noli. The expansion of the Republic of Noli followed until 1300, when the small port became more suitable for the amount of maritime business of the time, returning to being mainly a fishermen harbour. During the 1500s and 1600s the political and economic situation was not easy to resolve, with internal political difficulties, struggles with the Finale’s Marquisate, Savona, pirates’ invasions and domination by neighbouring states. The period of difficulty ended with Napoleon's domination by Noli in 1797 in the Department of Letimbro, with Savona in the Ligurian Republic, incorporated in 1815 in the Kingdom of Sardinia and later in the Kingdom of Italy.