A borgo of sailors and farmers

Rollo has always been a meeting point between the sea and the land, in fact the town based its livelihood on olive growing for the production of olive oil. The families who lived there owned olive groves throughout the area around the town and produced the oil directly in the on-site oil mill. The most powerful of them, the Tagliaferro family, had primacy in this trade. Many therefore, in search of another source of livelihood, boarded sailing ships in Genoa at a very young age, leaving for commercial and military ventures across the seas of the world, giving rise to the characteristic figure of the sailor (mainò or navigànte) typical of Rollo. Among these families there were Da Broi, Battistin, Vetterone, Ghiglione, Perato...

In fact, every family in Rollo had at least one sailor, who for years left home carrying out one of the most dangerous and tough jobs of the time and then returned to retire in their olive groves. Countless were those who never returned and were remembered in church by their families, while the luckiest thanked the Madonna and good fortune, leaving model ships and silver jewelery as ex-votos. Even today you can see some original models under the arches of the church of the Holy Trinity as a reminder of the adventurous and intrepid past of its inhabitants.

The Belvedere of the Rollo Sailors

On Sunday 21 April the small square in front of the church was dedicated as "Belvedere of the Rollo Sailors" after a quick introduction by our president Giorgio Baldizzone the Mayor Mauro DeMichelis gave a speech on the historical importance of Rollo, followed by a excursus on the local history of the culture councilor Mariateresa Nasi with the stories of some descendants of the Rollese families. The ceremony concluded with the blessing of the parish priest Don Emanuele Daniel with a prayer for those who fell at sea. Those present were then offered refreshments which gave the descendants of the sailors the opportunity to tell some stories of their fathers and grandfathers.

The viewpoint will now remind its many visitors of another part of the village's rich history with an exceptional view of the Gulf of Andora.

And you, do you have Rollo's ancestors who tried their luck at sea? If so, write to us to tell us your stories!

Text us!