Origins and history

The territory of Barbaresco has been inhabited since the prehistoric age. In that period these gentle and fertile hills were covered by thick forests with a few glades along the Tanaro river, and were inhabited by a barbaric population called Liguri Stazielli.



Liguri Stazielli were a strong and rough population. They had a sacred forest dedicated to a Celtic deity called “Martiningen” who was the symbol of strength. When the Romans conquered this area, they consecrated it to Mars, the god of war.



There were huge oak trees, a symbol of strength and perseverance, surrounded by salty water springs which still exist today.



The first settlements in the area were probably founded by the Liguri who took refuge in woodlands to escape from the Roman colonization, which expanded significantly under the domination of Augustus.



The name “Barbaresco” comes from “Barbarica silva”, i.e. forests of the barbarians. The first Roman settlement was called “Villa Martis”, it can be considered the first inhabited area of the village, which comprised a “taberna”, i.e. a brick-kiln.



In the early XX Century, during the excavation of ditches for the cultivation of vines, some large Roman tiles were found. Probably, the presence of this kiln and the building of the Roman road which led to Alba Pompeia through the valley of Martinenga contributed to the deforestation of the barbarica silva.



The forest was soon replaced with fields. At present, some words in the local dialect still preserve traces of the ancient Celtic language, such as “bric”, which indicates a hilltop.



With the fall of the Roman Empire, the Langhe hills were conquered first by the Longobards and later by the Franks. Some documents testify that the southern part of the Langa was subjected to several plunders by the Saracens, who came from Liguria, between the end of the IX and the X Century. The diocese of Alba was so poor at that time that Pope John XIII decided to put it under the administration of the diocese of Asti from 985 to 992. At that time, the territory was controlled by Roggero, whose enemies and rivals were Arduino, Aleramo and Oberto.



The fortifications, i.e. the tower and the castle, date back to the Middle Ages. Barbaresco was a fortified village, and its motto “De Barbarisco turris et Arx” dates back to that period too. The fortifications took the shape of a typical “Piedmontese fortress”, i.e. a fortified area which served as a shelter for the population in case of attack.



In the Middle Ages the territory of Barbaresco was the bone of contention between the rival towns of Asti and Alba. Over the centuries Barbaresco, like any other village in the Langa, was dominated by several feudal lords; after many years of war, the Savoy family eventually consolidated its power.

At the end of the XVIII Century, even the small village of Barbaresco was influenced by the French Revolution and on the 31st December 1798 the Commune of Barbaresco was founded.

Wine production has always been an essential element for Barbaresco. Between the XIX and the XX Century its economy was mostly based on agriculture, with considerable development in the last decades of the XXI Century: actually, after the Second World War the Langhe region was rather poor. In 1957 the inhabitants of Treiso, which was a hamlet of Barbaresco at that time, voted by referendum for the independence of Treiso and founded their own Commune.