Land routes twisted along the coast and inland in pre-Roman times when the first "castellari" began to arise; they were fortified high-altitude centers that often continued to be used in subsequent periods. Most of these sites have disappeared today; the only one investigated is the Castellaro detto di Uscio (Maggi, 2015). located at 721 m on Monte Borgo, on the border between the municipalities of Rapallo, Uscio, and Avegno, a crossing point of two ridges, and which was discontinuously frequented between the Neolithic (5500 BC approximately) and the Roman Age. Nowadays we can only assume the existence of other "Castellari" from ancient residual toponyms, such as the Castellaro localities in Rapallo and Zoagli, or still on Mount Castello between Sestri Levante and Riva Trigoso; others disappeared, such as the one that was supposed to be in Chiavari (Maggi, 1990, 354). There are also evident traces of mineral and stone extraction in the area, such as two extensive copper mines in the hinterland of Sestri Levante, in Libiola and in Monte Loreto that had been used from the 4th millennium b.C. to the 20th century ((Campana et al., 1998), (Bisso Lavaggi, 2000). (Benente & Piombo, 2003).(Maggi, 2015). (Benente, 2020)), and various quarry and mines areas around the Entella valley and Graveglia valley, where slate had been extracted ((Gotta, 1990).(Palacios & MANNONI, 2005)).¹ All these sites were to be connected by a system of tracks, leading along ridges and river valleys to the sea (Mannoni, 2007).

There is little information on the 9th-8th century period, the passage between the recent Bronze Age and the Iron Age, but it is clear that Liguria and Tigullio must have been affected by the passage of people, goods and ideas from the Greeks, Phoenicians, and above all Etruscans, who moved in search of new markets, through sea and land routes. In 1958, in Chiavari, during the excavations of the foundations of a building in today's Corso Millo, a vast Ligurian necropolis was discovered (See Figure 3): it extended into the marshy ground on the banks of the Rupinaro stream. Nino Lamboglia was called to excavate and he dated the burial ground to a period between the eighth and seventh centuries. B.C. The various burials, in slate lithic boxes, were arranged on the sand dunes that extended to the foothills of the hills; however, the settlement annexed to the necropolis has never been found, probably being located along the highly urbanized slopes of the hills behind. Iron and copper artifacts were found inside various burials, the raw metal came from the ancient mines mentioned above. Other artifacts came from various cultures, including those of Golasecca, Halstatt, Greek, Etruscan, and Phoenician, which testify the plurality of contacts and the vitality of the site, which must have had a landing place in the roadstead at the mouth of the stream (Lamboglia, 1960),. (Bernardini, 1985). (Giannattasio, 2007), (Benente & Campana, 2014)(Maggi, 2015)). This testifies not only to the presence of commercial routes along the coast but also towards the Apennine passes and northern Italy.

It is not known with certainty when the first contact with the Roman world began, but it is probable that supplies were landed in the area to counter Hannibal during the II Punic War, while it is certain that in 179 BC. the entire Ligurian coast was now under the control of Rome. In this period the authors begin to speak of the Tigullii, one of the five peoples of maritime Liguria, who inhabited the territory that takes its name from them, Tigullia.² During the Roman colonization, the relationship between routes and landscape was determined by the will to transform and control the territory; the layouts were reused and joined up with the more ancient routes of the Ligurians to penetrate the valleys, and also "Roman cities are preferably built in open valleys and at the mouth of the main communication routes with the interior" (Lamboglia, 1946. (Mannoni, 2007)). In a region characterized by a succession of hills, mountain peaks, and small plains, the route usually follows the line that separates the coastal plains and the hills behind, in a coveted position due to the availability of water, from the few areas suitable for agriculture and proximity to natural landings, but often must follow the peaks of the hills or the most difficult slopes; from the line start the roads which, overlapping the ancient layouts of the Ligurians, reach the internal areas and the passes. In 109 BC. the censor M. Aemilius Scaurus3 decides to continue the ancient route via Aurelia (Bonora, 2000)⁴ and connect the colony of Lunae to that of Genua by tracing a new road, which takes its name: the via Aemilia Scauri, name replaced in a short time by the more famous via Aurelia. This communication route crosses the entire territory from east to west, from the Bracco pass to the Camogli route, with various branches towards the sea and the mountains, and will be the basis of the road system of the following centuries and millennia (Bonora, 2000).

A valid testimony of this route is obtained thanks to the quotations that bring us back to the maps of the Roman era, such as the Tabula Peutingeriana (See Figure 4) and the Itinerarium Antonini Augusti et Hierosolymitanum, and some authors such as Pliny the Elder. Starting from the east it is located in Alpe Pennino, which has been identified as the Passo del Bracco, proceeding westward there are Ad Monilia, the current Moneglia, and Segesta, today's Sestri Levante; subsequently Tegulata, never identified, and ad solaria, which could be identified in Zoagli. Finally Portus Delphinis, or Portofino.5 These quotes provide us with a fairly rough run of the road.

Unlike other parts of the peninsula, in Liguria the discontinuity due to the fall of the Western Roman Empire is less felt, since after the reconquest of Italy by the Byzantines in 538 and until 643 the region was firmly in the hands of the Eastern Empire, being part of the Provincia Maritima Italorum. The road network was maintained by Byzantine administrators until the Lombard conquest of King Rotari (Bonora, 2000). During the Lombard period and the subsequent Carolinian period, several monasteries were founded at strategic points along the road routes, such as San Nicolao on the Bracco pass or the abbey of Sant'Andrea di Borzone in the hinterland (Bonora, 2000). These foundations contribute to the resumption of movement and trade, which is joined by the resurgence of communities located along the coast and in the hinterland. The roads are reinforced, but it will be only with the Republic of Genoa in the XII century. that the road system will be strengthened, re-establishing a unitary route throughout the region (Bonora, 2000). (See Figure 5)

In Casarza Ligure there is a crossroad that leads towards the inside of the Petronio Valley (See Figure 23 andFigure 25.(Figone, 1998)).³¹ The continuous attendance of this during the centuries is essentially linked to the valley, which constitutes a natural route from the coast to the hinterland, practicable both at the bottom of the valley and on the hillside; following this direction we can arrive, going past Missano, up to the Velva crossroads: from here it is possible to reach the Bracco pass to the south, and San Pietro Vara to the east,. From San Pietro Vara we can choose the direction: towards the coast or Varese Ligure.

Varese Ligure is an important intersection because we can reach Passo Cento Croci and enter Emilia Romagna, Passo del Gottero to go to Emilia or Tuscany, and Passo del Bocco to go North, in the direction of Bobbio. It was probably the importance of this communication route that motivated the early interference of the powerful abbey of Bobbio along the Petronio valley, documented since the eighth century. In this context, Missano constituted for the monks a sort of gateway to control the territory and traffic, with the building of the church of Santa Maria Assunta and the important abbey of Connio (both from the 10th -12th century BC).

After passing the eighteenth-century town of Casarza (the medieval village is not known where it was located) you can enter the territory of Castiglione Chiavarese. Today the road climbs steeply, following several bends, but during the Middle Ages, the main road proceeded along the Petronio stream, while the secondary one proceeded halfway up the hill. There is immediately a crossroads that leads to the ancient quarries of Monte Loreto (of which we have spoken previously), next to which stands the small village of Masso, with the ancient church of San Michele (Vincolo SABAP-GE.), mentioned in a diploma of Charlemagne in 774, when the sovereign donated the territories of the valley to the abbey of Bobbio.

From Castiglione the road forked and one of the stretches followed the long stream where three bridges of clear medieval origin can still be seen:³² the first is humpbacked and with a double arch and leads to Masso as seen in Figure 24); the second has three arches and leads to San Nicolao; the third is once again a single humpbacked arch and also leads towards the Bracco pass (Mannoni, 2007).³³ At this point, the road disappears completely, except for a last stretch below the village of Velva, where a bridge with two arches is visible.³⁴

Nowadays the road halfway up the slope is difficult to find, but it must have touched the various localities where religious buildings and surveillance towers had been attested since at least the 11th – 12th century, such as the tower and the church of San Pietro in San Pietro di Frascati, or the church of Sant'Antonino Martire in Castiglione. Continuing, we arrive at the three oldest villages in the valley: Conio, Missano, and Velva.

The small village of Connio, ancient Conio, is the testimony which has remained unchanged over the centuries, of a rural village, of which we have news from the early medieval period, as the site of a Bobbiese monastic cell (difficult to date, but always around the X - XII century), and which during the Middle Ages and in the Modern Age assumed the function of a fundamental stop along the commercial road that connected Sestri Levante with Varese and the Po valley lands.³⁵ This township controlled the transit of the area. The ruins of the religious building, invisible from the road due to the vegetation, consist of walls and the bell tower. Missano³⁶ (See Figure 25) was the gateway to the center of the valley for the monks of Bobbio, important both for the control of the territory and of traffic and where the church of Santa Maria Assunta was built (10th – 12th century. (Mannoni, 2001). Benente 2008. (Mammola, 2017)). A first mention of the village of Missano can be found in the papal bull "Officii nostri" of Alexander

III of 16 March 1162, where it is indicated as a possession of the Benedictine Abbey of San Fruttuoso di "Capodimonte".

Veleura is the ancient and medieval Velva (See Figure 25. (Associazione Culturale Veleura, n.d.)), the last village before the pass; various hypotheses have been made on the origin of this name: the most reliable seems to be the one that connects the medieval toponym veleura with a word of Phocaean origin, Elea, which became Veleia and then Velva, with the meaning of "source" and would fit perfectly into the place full of springs. This toponym was used until the late Middle Ages. Even if we do not have direct attestations, from what can be read in the Carolingian diploma of 774 it can be assumed that Velva constituted a settlement of a certain importance already starting from the VI-VII century, therefore following the Lombard rule. The historic center of Velva represents one of the best-preserved testimonies of a medieval rural village in the Ligurian hinterland:³⁷ located in the frieze of the provincial road but not crossed by it, it has maintained the whole internal road network exclusively for pedestrians and made up of stepped alleys with a cobbled bottom, which winds through arcades, squares and rest areas, offering the visitor a picture of what was the use of public spaces in relation to the life of a traditional community.

As far as the Gromolo valley is concerned, the situation is more complex: the access was occupied, on the right bank of the stream, by two settlements perched along the slopes of Mount Castello: the fort of Carmelo and the village of San Bernardo.³⁸ According to local historians, the road had stretched inland already in Roman and pre-Roman times through the area of Fossalupara (luparia?) to reach the copper mines of Libiola.³⁹ In the valley, there are two small villages with the same name: the older Libiola, along the ridge below the mines, and Santa Vittoria di Libiola,40 on the valley floor; their toponym is strongly connected to the extraction of copper (Lavaggi, 2000, 30).⁴¹ In the area of Libiola, located under the current chapel of San Pietro,⁴² passes an ancient path linking the sea and the high roads of the Ligurian mountains which crosses the Rio Cattan via a bridge that has always been called "Roman". The path crossed the Gromolo stream in the area called “Balicca” (where traces of a medieval settlement can be found to defend the passage), went up to the vault of the villages of Loto (Lotus), and continued to Cascine (Cassine), Costa Rossa (Terra Rubra) and joined the road that went through the fortresses of Sant'Anna. This route could have been linked to the sea to bring the mineral extracted from the mines and could date back to pre-Roman times. On the contrary, the road that went up the Gromolo stream passed through the current Moggia pass and continued towards the Graveglia valley.

It is not a consular road but an ancient ridge path, certainly also used to transport minerals from the Libiola mines towards the valley. A clue about the Roman nature of the ancient bridge could be given by the fact that Roman bridges had a round arch, like that of Libiola. Regardless of this, it is certain that the path is at least from Roman times, if not even pre-Roman. As proof of the antiquity of the Libiola area and of the fact that its large territory has been inhabited for millennia, near the upper part of the Gromolo stream there is a mountain that the locals have always called Castellaro. Certainly, the perched and somewhat hidden position and the presence of water sources nearby must have made it an ideal defensive settlement for the populations of the ancient Ligurians.

The roads that went up along the Entella valley crossed both banks of the river (See Figure 26), but on the Chiavari side the layout becomes cumbersome and it is probable that the modern road overlaps the ancient one. The few data derive from some sporadic discoveries of Roman materials upstream of the church of Santa Margherita di Caperana and from the toponym of this area which could refer to an ancient Etruscan form, cape, with the meaning of vase, basin, or valley (Occelli, 2015)

The blackboard side is more legible: after the Sanctuary of N.S. del Ponte the route continues towards the mountains and the modern road follows almost the entire route. Arriving in San Salvatore, the medieval heart of the Fieschi dominion, the Napoleonic Land Registry of the beginning of the 19th century and the local historical memory can be of some help, since the road indicated as chemin du S. Sauveur follows the route of the so-called Roman road (Arobba, 2021). In the middle of the small town of San Salvatore, on the top of a low hill that governs the valley, there is the central nucleus of 13th-century buildings. of the Fieschi family, with the basilica of San Salvatore and the noble palace ((Ragazzi & Corallo, 1982). I luoghi del cuore FAI). The basilica is the only building made entirely of slate in the world (Palacios & MANNONI, 2005).⁴³

The road continues behind the buildings as a path. At the crossroads via Podestà, between 2017 and 2018, materials from the Imperial age and walls and pottery from late antiquity were found, indications of a Roman occupation and a possible still unknown settlement (Arobba, 2021). The route continues winding along the slopes of the mountains (unlike the modern one, built in the Napoleonic age, which runs along the river bed), passing under the 12th-century church. of the saints Giustina and Cipriano di Panesi, and then arrives at the entrance to the Val Graveglia. At this level of the river, the roads on both banks appear to run parallel; along the right bank you cross the medieval village of Rivarola,⁴⁴ surmounted by the hill of the same name: here in the 12th century was built a castle(Benente, 2001); (Benente, 2006)) with the contribution of Genoa which wanted to enter the Tigulline trade routes. The archaeological investigations of 1996 also identified along the slopes of the hill, below the castle, a site from the Roman Imperial age, a clear sign that control of this passage was already important in this era (Benente, 2019).

The plan of the road is partly lost, but there might have been a single road axis on the left bank. Above this side of the river, in loc. Paggi, in the tenth century the Fieschi was built. a castle, destroyed in 1133. After the great bend of the river you arrive at the plain of Carasco, a toponym probably referred to the waterway (Fiore, 2007).⁴⁵ From some documents dating back to 888, with King Berengario I, and to 972, with Emperor Otto I, the possessions of the abbey of Bobbio proved to be in the territory of Carasco. Here the "old church" of San Marziano (See Figure 27),⁴⁶ Saint of Tortona, was founded, probably between 943 and 963.47 After several changes of ownership, first to San Michele della Chiusa, between the 11th and 12th centuries, and then to the Fieschi basilica, in 1254, the church was destroyed in 1664 by a flood. The remains of the apse and some pavements are visible inside the nineteenth- century home of the parish priest (Benente & Campana, 2021). Continuing along the road, which has now become a single one we arrive at the church of San Pietro di Sturla, a strategic point and perhaps the site of a medieval settlement,48 located at the confluence of the Lavagna and Sturla streams, which form the Entella, and their respective valleys: Val Fontanabuona and Sturla.

Along the opposite bank of the Entella, in the area of Rivarola, where the ancient church of Sant'Eufemiano is located, there is the confluence with the Graveglia stream. In 2016 archaeological excavations testified a use of the site starting from the end of the 10th century. A.D., with a burial necropolis and the construction of the first church in the 11th century, which was modified and enlarged in the following centuries (Camapana et al., 2021) Here begins the Graveglia Valley (See Figure 28),⁴⁹ characterized by the presence of rich stone and mineral mines.

In the Middle Ages, the road had always proceeded in the valley floor, while the villages, perched on the slopes, were protected by towers and castles such as in Prati di Ne50 and Zerli.51 Below this village, there is a crossroads, but the ancient road might have proceeded towards Nascio (See Figure 29), where the remains of a castle destroyed by Genoa in 1033 are found. Nearby is the hamlet of Cassagna where once stood a place of worship dedicated to San Michele and of uncertain dating in the locality of "La Crocetta". Further on we arrive in Statale, where between 1994 and 1996 archaeological excavations investigated one of the so-called "tile stations" of the Roman era,52 characterized by the large presence of fragments of winged tiles. This locality was populated between the 2nd and 3rd centuries. A.D. (large rustic building) and between the 4th and 6th centuries (seasonal occupation and stripping of the building. (Benente & Campana, 2014)). Still in Statale, the church of San Bartolomeo dates back to the 11th century. Continuing along the road we arrive at the Biscia pass.

The other road that passed through Nascio proceeds towards Reppia, a medieval hamlet in the valley, where there are still houses from this era and where there is a church with a very ancient dedication to Sant'Apollinare, saint of Ravenna, whose existence is confirmed in the possessions of the abbey of Bobbio in 972. Continuing along the road we rejoin the one coming from the state road and arrive at the Biscia pass, the gateway to the Val di Vara, and the passes that lead to Parma.

Continuing from Carasco along the Sturla stream, the route is quite simple to follow, as it has always followed the valley floor (See Figure 30). After the first hamlet of Terrarossa, a toponym of probable Roman origin,⁵³ we arrive at Mezzanego, a municipality made up of various hamlets and of very ancient origin. The original name of the municipality could be Vicus mezzanicum, referring to the fact that the territory was located between two roads, one below the coast and one at the bottom of the valley, and is connected to the small town of Semovigo, or Summus vicus.

Numerous finds from the Roman and Late Ancient periods have come to light since the 1970s, both along the valley and in the hamlet of Semovigo. The most important discovery is undoubtedly that of the so-called "tile station" of the Porciletto, ⁵⁴ which is located halfway up the hillside between the main valley and the one that leads to Semovigo. In this location were found artifacts from a period starting from the sixth century. BC, includes the first imperial era and reaches the Late Antiquity; in Roman times the production of bricks is attested. ⁵⁵ From Semovigo we can reach the Bocco pass, which has always been one of the most important passes of the Tigullio because it leads to Emilia. Going back to the main valley, there is Borgonovo. Dating to a later period, here starts the main road which leads to the Bocco pass, along the Mogliana valley.

The route continues along the valley floor and enters the municipality of Borzonasca,⁵⁶ which has always been an important crossroads, in which there was a customhouse in the Middle Ages (A.A.V.V., 1999), located between the older road that leads to the Bocco pass and towards Parma and the one that leads to the Forcella pass and leads into the Aveto valley, the highest area of Eastern Liguria, where there is the important route for Bobbio, seat of the abbey of San Colombano. This second road has always been fundamental for trade and Bobbio's influence on the area, even though numerous passes were probably used along the ridge in ancient times. The valley that deviates towards the Bocco pass is archaeologically more interesting today, since the road that climbs it along the southern ridges leads to the ancient abbey of Sant'Andrea di Borzone (See Figure 31. (Brusco, 1968),. (A.A.V.V., 1999).(A.A.V.V., 2001); (A.A.V.V., 2003). (Alessio & Benente, 2011)), also a dependency of Bobbio. At the time of the "Gothic war", in the first half of the 6th century, the Byzantines erected a defensive bulwark which was the seat of a military detachment.57 When and by whom, on the ruins of the Byzantine fortress, the church with annexed monastery with the title of Sant'Andrea was built continues to be a cause of uncertainty and historical discussion.

Two documents, although historically controversial, would attest to the presence of a nucleus in Borzone in the early Middle Ages: the first dates back to 774, the year in which Charlemagne, delimiting the jurisdiction of the monastery of Bobbio, mentions Borzone, and the second dates back to 972 when the emperor Otto I reconfirmed the jurisdiction of Bobbio expressly citing "the monastery and the villa of Borzono".

A certain document that mentions this monastery is instead a bull dated 11 April 1120 by Pope Callistus II (1119- 1124) which confirms its possession by the Abbey of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro in Pavia. The circumstances whereby the name of the monastery of Borzone does not appear in the ancient Bobbiesi documents and the papal bull mentions Borzone together with other dependencies received by the Pavia abbey would suggest a backdating of its erection by a few centuries, that is the first half of the eighth century, by King Liutprand. Dating back to 1145 is an agreement stipulated between the Fieschis and the Consuls of Genoa in which explicit reference is made to the "Curia Borzoni", with which the powerful family, based in the current San Salvatore, sought to reinvigorate the complex.

In 1184 the monastery passed to the Benedictines from the patrimony of the church of Genoa, which had come into possession of it in an unspecified time, and between the 12th and 13th centuries, it was completely rearranged. Then the route had to continue along the ridge towards the pass, but today it has completely disappeared; the one that can be traveled even today is very ancient and can be retraced to a pre-protohistoric route, as evidenced by the imposing "Megalithic face of Christ". 58 Continuing, we arrive at the ruined church of San Martino di Licciorno, from the 11th century, and going on along the ridge we can return to the Bocco pass.

The road starts from Carasco and runs along the Lavagna stream, through the village of San Colombano Certenoli, ancient Bembelia, where according to the legend the monks of Bobbio, accompanied by San Colombano, built a church.59 At this level of the valley you meet the road which from San Pier di Canne crosses the town of Leivi;60 on the highest pass are the remains of the tetraconca church called "Oneto Abbey" (See Figure 33, (Garbarino, 2022)), typical of Byzantine architecture (perhaps 6th - 7th century) and rebuilt several times.61 Here there was also a hospital, the remains of which can be seen around the main building. This road has always been attested as the "salt road" towards northern Italy and it crosses the Fontanabuona valley (See Figure 32).

In the locality of Calvari, on the left bank of the Lavagna stream, there is the locality of Castellaro, a toponym referring to the ancient pre-Roman Ligurian settlements. Continuing in this direction we arrive at Orero, an ancient village built on the "salt road" for Piacenza, controlled by Bobbio. At this point we can walk across Cicagna, the most important village of the valley, formerly known as Plecania,62 whose history coincides with the formation of the baptismal churches built in the 12th century. The parish church no longer exists, but in the center of the village, guarding the valley, there would be a perfect place for an ancient castellaro. Continuing along the valley we arrive in the ancient Moconesi.63 The road crosses the stream in Terrarossa thanks to a medieval bridge. Crossing the small village of Neirone (Spinetta, 2004), the road forks: on one side it passes through the village of Roccatagliata (A.A.V.V., 1999).,(Cagnana et al., 2015)), site of a Fliscan castle, and leads towards Piacenza crossing the Portello pass; the other road leads through the territory of Lumarzo,⁶⁴ where there must have been a Roman settlement, never found, leading to the Scoffera pass and from here to Genoa or Piacenza.

¹As will be seen later, the historical etymology Tigullii also derives from the use of slate for architectural purposes. Pliny in the Naturalis Historia (book XXXVI, paragraph 167) speaks of a clear stone that is cut with a saw; in the Historia of Livy (book XLI, chap. 19) and in the Italia Antiqua of Cluverio (book V, chap. 10) appears the name of a local tribe, the Lapicini, whose etymology has been correlated to lapis. In this period localities called claparia also began to appear, where slabs of slate (clapae) were extracted or worked. Claudius Ptolemy placed Tigullia between Portus Delphini and Segesta Tigulliorum. Pomponio Mela with the term Tigullia indicates a settlement, but not the place where it is located, nor in what era its construction took place.

²The etymology of the term Tigullii according to Nino Lamboglia could derive from a pre-Roman base similar to and parallel to that of the Latin tegmen (cover) or tegula; this hypothesis could support the theory that only the Tigullii, among all the Ligurians, covered their roofs with stone tiles, presumably slate, which is abundant in the area.

³The first stretch up to Vado Ligure was built as a continuation of the Via Aurelia, which from Rome reached Pisa and then Luni; the second stretch up to Arles, in France, was traced by Augustus between 13 and 12 BC, taking the name of via Iulia Augusta; however, it was already known in its entirety as via Aurelia in the imperial era.

⁴Road built in 241 BC. by the censor G. Aurelio Cotta or in 200 BC. from his son, the consul G. Aurelio Cotta, up to Caere and subsequently lengthened several times up to Lunae.

⁵The other cities are never mentioned, but there are various hypotheses on the etymology of the names: Lavagna, from lavania or slate; Chiavari from claparia (slate slab); Rapallo the most controversial could derive from rea palus (unhealthy marsh), rapulum (turnip) or rapatum (reed bed).

6This fraction of Moneglia is mentioned in the tabula Alimentaria, found in 1747 in the Piacenza area with which the emperor Trajan, who died in 117 AD, linked various estates, towns and villages for the benefit of the orphans of Velleia, including Lemmelius.

⁷Various amphoracei, including a Baetic Dressel 2 form, African sealed tableware and bricks.

⁸The paving stones are made up of flakes of local schist and in the most impervious areas the rock has been cut upstream, almost certainly over the centuries the paving stones of the roadway have continued to be replaced.

⁹At least until the 18th century, as shown by Vinzoni's cartography, only this road existed, which led from Lavagna to the east.

¹⁰Clear reference to the probable extraction of slate or blackboard already in Roman times.

¹¹As will be better seen later on for Chiavari.

¹²Intra Siestri e Chieveri s'adima

¹³una fiumana bella, e del suo nome lo titol del mio sangue fa sua cima" (Dante, Divina Commedia. Purgatorio XIX). Much discussed passage of the Comedy in which Pope Adrian V (1205 - 1276) speaks of the river that gave its name to his family, the Fieschi di Lavagna, and this provides proof that at least in this era the river was known as Lavagna and not like Entella, a name of uncertain identification. The first attestation of the name Entella for the river is found in Claudius Ptolemy, who in Geography III 1, 3 mentions the Ἐντέλλα ποταμοῦ ἐκβολαί («mouths of the river Entella»), placing them east of Genoa.

³As evidenced by an inscription placed on the external wall of the Maddalena church.

⁴Among these Lopes Pegna and Riparbelli.

⁵Regarding the toponymy cf. above.

⁶This was modernized in 1208 by the Consuls of Genoa.

⁷Some excavations carried out along via Ravaschieri and via Raggio have testified that the ancient medieval street level was at a lower level of almost 2 m.

⁸During some excavations, a wall from the 1st – 2nd century was found next to the ancient church. A.D.

⁹A weaver from Rovereto (fraction of Chiavari) on his way to the seaside town found a small picture depicting the Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus on an olive tree. Again according to local stories, the farmers of the area, already in the previous nights, also saw a glow at the level of the olive grove. It was therefore decided to build a chapel, in which to keep and venerate the presumed miraculous image. The icon is painted on a table-mounted canvas, in dark colors on a gold field, which represents the Madonna with a brown face, with the Child on her left arm, in an affectionate and maternal attitude. The style could be said to be Greek, like that of the Madonna del Ponte, both due to the Greek custom of placing the Child on the left, and because in the early days in Liguria it was the Greeks who painted, on a gold background.

²⁰According to a notarial document, citing the landed properties of the Genoese churches in the Tigullio area, a primitive place of worship, Sancti Petri, is mentioned in 984, which could actually indicate the Genoese church of San Pietro.

²C(aio) Sextio Spectato tesserario coh(ortis) I pr(aetoriae) P(iae) V(indicis). C(aius) Titius Marcellinus be(neficiarius) trib(uni) coh(ortis) eiusdem b(ene) m(erenti). To Caius Sextius excellent enrollee of the 1st praetorian cohort (of the Legion) Pia Vincitrice (or Vindice) Cazio Tizio Marcellinus tribune beneficiary of the same cohort". The inscription can refer to two different legions: to Legio VI Hispana Pia Vinctrix, active between 68 and 197 or more probably to Legio III Augusta Pia Vindex, active between 43/40 BC. at the end of the IV – beginning of the V century. A.D., which in 193 received the nickname of "Faithful Avenger" from the emperor Septimius Severus.

²²The modern road, which passes under the village of San Pietro, crosses two tunnels, which according to popular tradition date back to the Roman period.

²³The excavations of 2016 established the presence of settlements from the Iron Age thanks to the presence of numerous finds.

²⁴FAI, i luoghi del cuore. https://fondoambiente.it/luoghi/chiesa-di-san-pantaleo-zoagli?ldc

²⁵It could derive from the name Bardus, Pardus widespread in the early Middle Ages, or from a nickname generated by the Longobard origin of the progenitor.

²⁶Pebble in Genoese.

²⁷In 1634 the Mortis et Orationis confraternity, known as “dei Neri” due to the color of the capes, was established there.

²⁸Another official document that confirms its presence is a deed of sale dated July 1155 where a certain Benedetta sold half of a house located "ab ea parte quae est versu Sanctum Stephanum".

29 A problem regarding the consecration of this church is given by a plaque, datable to the 17th century, which recalls the event, which however indicates a date subsequent to the actual construction: 11 or 12 October 1118. In this period Pope Gelasius II, on his way to France, consecrated the cathedral of San Lorenzo in Genoa on 10 October (certain and documented fact), or the day before. A rather strange fact in itself, both due to the distance between the two cities (about 30 km), and due to the fact that the pope, arriving from Tuscany, would have had to go back. In addition, the plaque was positioned five centuries later, so it can be thought that the consecration of the church was intended to be attributed to a pope, who probably passed through Rapallo at that time or, as has been suggested more recently, it was intended to adjust the date of consecration in order not to bypass Genoa.

³⁰Legend has it that during the Second Punic War Hannibal passed through it with elephants, on his way to Rome. The oldest document in which the building is mentioned is a notarial deed dated 7 April 1049: a certain Rainaldo signs a donation of some land adjacent to the bridge in favor of the Genoese church of Santa Maria di Castello.

³¹Toponym of probable Roman origin.

³²The bridges were rebuilt following the flood of 1852, which damaged or destroyed them.

³³Unfortunately there is no other bibliography concerning these bridges.

³⁴Only the pylons are original from the modern era.

³⁵To date, the village no longer exists and only the ruins of the abbey church can be recognized. They represent a building erected in 1663, mentioned in a document dated March 24, 1664, on the initiative of a local notable, Carlo Castiglione, who, with the archbishop's authorization, had the right of appointment of the Abbot.

³⁶Roman predial to be referred to the Latin noble family Messius.

³⁷The typology of the buildings in "exposed stone" allows us to read the evolution of the structure of the settlement starting from the most ancient nucleus, certainly from the early Middle Ages, characterized by masonry in squared and chiselled ashlars, on which they were then grafted successive phases of expansion, reflecting the different demographic and historical situations.

³⁸In San Bernardo the homonymous church was previously dedicated to San Quirico and could date back to between the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th century. There is no bibliography regarding these places.

39 Vd. cap. 1.

⁴⁰The origins of the settlement could date back to the 11th century. with the building of the church by the Benedictine monks of Piacenza.

⁴¹The toponym Libiola would seem to derive from the Greek λέβης (Latin lebes) a basin or boiler in copper or bronze, which was used to heat and store water. The name of this container, lebes, is also attested in Liguria in some medieval notarial documents.

⁴²The original church of San Pietro, the first parish in the valley, could date back to the 7th century. Some finds from this era are kept in the museum of the parish of Santa Vittoria.

43 Slate is a particular stone whose properties have been known by man over the millennia and thanks to its elasticity, resistance to bending, reduced porosity, it does not freeze and does not deform even when subjected to heat (exceptional fire resistance given the very low expansion coefficient) makes it a unique building material in the world. The slate trade has always been of great importance for the Tigullio area. Until the twentieth century, along the slopes of Mount San Giacomo (behind Lavagna and San Salvatore) and still today in Val Fontanabuona, there were large quarries of this material, which was already used in pre-Roman times (see the Necropolis of Chiavari), and especially since the Middle Ages (a first document of sale of slate abbadini dates back to 1176). The slate roads descended from the slopes of Mount San Giacomo and along the course of the Lavagna torrent in Val Fontanabuona, to then reach the sea along the Entella.

⁴⁴Toponym to refer to the proximity to the river bank.

⁴⁵The toponym Calasco is found for the first time in the Breviarium de terra Sancti Columbani, drawn up at the end of the 10th century. in Bobbio: “Filii Silveradi de Calasco tenent p(ra)tu(m) I in tasiola et in aliis locis, un(de) debent dare fictu(m)”. The transition from the original Calasco to the Carasco form, which corresponds to the local karasu or kaàsku, is completely linear: in the Ligurian dialects the intervocalic l is transformed into r and disappears in Genoese. The meaning is not entirely clear, but there are two hypotheses: - it derives from the Latin calare, to descend, as an adjective substantiated in -asco; - derives from the portmanteau of "Car" (head) and "Asco" (stream), in reference to the geographical position of the territory on which it developed.

⁴⁶For further information on the history of the church see Fiore, 2007.

⁴⁷When a certain Giseprando was bishop of Tortona and abbot of Bobbio. 48 Settlement not yet studied.

⁴⁹Latin toponym: from the popular grava area; from an original Grauliā, possessions of Gravilios.

⁵⁰It is the municipality of Val Graveglia and its toponym could derive from the Latin nemus to signify the probable presence of natural and wild woods.

⁵¹Where is a medieval castle.

⁵²The other investigated is in Porciletto, in the Sturla valley, which will be discussed later.

⁵³Terra Rubra.

⁵⁴Very common toponym in Liguria in the Modern Age.

⁵⁵All of this information can be found at Benente 2014, 171 – 182.

⁵⁶A somewhat obscure toponym that would seem to refer to the stream (-asca) and to the abbey of Borzone (vedi infra).

⁵⁷The scholar C. Brusco also proposes an older tower, from the 4th – 5th century. A.D.

⁵⁸The engraving is considered one of the largest rock sculptures in Italy and Europe and could date back to the Paleolithic. A local legend states that once a year the monks of the nearby abbey went in front of the sculpture to venerate it, considering it a miraculous face of Christ.

⁵⁹There is a record about it in the Bobbio abbey, dating back to the 10th century.

⁶⁰Among the various hypotheses on the origins of Leivi, the most accredited is the one that makes the name derive from that of an ancient Ligurian tribe, the Laevi, founders of Pavia, which from Ticino, in pre-Roman times, would have extended its influence up to Tyrrhenian. The settlement, perhaps for commercial purposes, of a "bridgehead" a short distance from the sea can in fact be reliably attributed to the members of this tribe.

⁶¹The small church is located in a locality known as "nel pagano", a rather ancient toponym.

⁶²Plecania and again Chicaglia to then end up in Cicagna. There are two hypotheses to find the etymology of the name: the first would like the name of Plecania to be a corruption of Plebs amnis (the parish church of the river par excellence, which is still called Agna in dialect today); the other, less probable, has it that Plecania derives from Plebania, since in ancient times, being Cicagna the only parish of the whole Fontanabuona, it was called by the Fontanini la Plebania, almost the parish par excellence, from which Plecania derived.

⁶³The toponym, with the meaning "house of Moco" or "dei Mochi", refers to the possessions of a Romanised Ligurian family; the name is attested for example in the bronze tablet of Polcevera, dating back to 117 BC, where a Moco Meticanio is mentioned, representative of the Genuati in the dispute with the Langatii object of the sentence.

⁶⁴The toponym Lumarzo derives from the Latin Locus Martius, i.e. "grove - field of Mars": this has led us to think that in the current municipal area there was a temple, with an adjoining grove, consecrated to the Roman god of war.

This research did not receive any specific grants from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors/individuals.

Not applicable.

The authors declare that there is no competing interest.