Comune Lerma

corso Spinola, 12 - 15070 Lerma (AL)
Tel. +39 0143 877337
E-mail: info@comune.lerma.al.it
http://www.comune.lerma.al.it

Mentioned for the first time as Lelma in a document dated 1184, during the 1300s the village was conquered by the Paleologi family from Monferrato: in the 13th century it was the fiefdom of several Genoese families, the Malaspina, Doria, Grillo, before passing on to the Spinola from the 15th to the 17th centuries. In 1708, Lerma became part of the Savoy state. Through an arch gateway where there had been once a drawbridge, you can enter the square, onto which faces the Castle. Rebuilt in the late 15th century, on the previous building of the 12th century, it maintains the ancient “ricetto” (medieval fortification) inside the city walls. Under each window, there is an embrasure for a canon and on the sides embrasures for guns. The square-shaped tower rises on the side facing the village and on the east wall there is a large coat of arms of the Spinola family. Of the early castle, besides the circular dungeon, one of the towers remains. It became the apse of the Parish Church of St. John the Baptist. The church façade has a single nave, with lateral chapels in the transept: the precious painting depicting the Virgin with Child by Barnaba from Modena is located in a niche inside the church. Another exquisite work is the wooden Crucifix, from the workshop of Anton Maria Maragliano. About twenty minutes walk from the ricetto is the Pieve of St. John the Baptist. It probably dates to the 9th century and is now part of the cemetery. Until the 16th century, it was the Parish church of the village. On the road from Tagliolo to Lerma, before the bridge over the Piota, we take a road which leads to the Shrine of Our Lady of Graces, also called “delle Rocchette”. The building, dating back to the 13th century but modified in the 17th century, availed of guest quarters that offered accommodation to travellers who took the Salt Road, from Southern Monferrato to Liguria. In the area called Costalunga, the astronomical observatory “Alessandra Ferrari e Ilaria Merlo” rises on a hill among the vineyards.