Ormea

In the Tanaro valley, between the Pizzo d'Ormea (2,476 m) and Mount Armetta (1,739 m), there is a small town in the shape of a heart. This is Ormea, which, between the 10th and 11th centuries, suffered the raids of the Saracens, then became the property of the Counts of Alba and the Marquis of Ceva and in 1665 passed to the Savoys. In the ancient core, the medieval layout is well recognised, with the "trevi" (narrow streets similar to carrugi) and beautiful houses of the 14th–15th century. The parish church of San Martino, built at the end of the fifteenth century on top of a previous structure, has a Romanesque bell tower and, in the apse, fourteenth-century frescoes. Today, Ormea is a tourist destination in summer, for the excursions that wind through the surrounding woods (such as the Balconata di Ormea route) and over the alpine peaks.