Cerignale

In 1164 Frederick Barbarossa granted the Malaspina the castle of Cariseto in perpetual fief, and three years later he slept in it himself: fleeing from Rome, with the Monte Bardone road blocked by the men of Pontremoli, the emperor came by the old track through these mountains, and the Malaspina helped him on his way.

In 1540 the fief was sold to Gianluigi Fieschi for ten thousand gold scudi; seven years later Fieschi died in the conspiracy against Andrea Doria, and the Genoese destroyed the castle. With his goods confiscated, Charles V gave the fief to the Doria themselves — and in the comune's coat of arms, to this day, their eagle sits on the battlements of the keep.