The square keep is crowned with machicolations and the corner turrets are still in place: the castle of Conscente is a piece of late 16th-century military architecture that has come down to us almost intact, raised by the Costa family of Albenga above the houses of the hamlet. It is also known as the castle of the Rolandi Ricci del Carretto.
What to see
The building reads from a distance: square plan, machicolations along the crown, overhanging sentry turrets at the corners. This is a structure meant for control, not a country residence, and the site proves it: from up there the line of sight reaches the castles of Zuccarello and Castelvecchio di Rocca Barbena, that is, the whole defensive chain of the valley. The square tower on the north-west side is a 19th-century addition made after a conservation restoration; look closely and it separates from the sixteenth-century body.
The patrons are the surprising part. The Costa were the Albenga family of the banker Ottavio, the man who ordered for the oratory of San Giovanni Battista, down in Conscente, the Saint John the Baptist attributed to Caravaggio, later replaced by a copy and moved to Albenga. The castle itself had a plainer fate under Napoleonic rule: it was turned into a slaughterhouse. Higher up, above Gombo at the spot called Paràgiu, traces remain of an older keep, the medieval stronghold of the Clavesana marquises.
Visiting
Conscente is a hamlet of Cisano sul Neva, on the Pennavaira stream, reached from state road 582 over the Colle di San Bernardo; the address is Via Principe Amedeo. The castle stands above the houses and has been protected as a cultural asset since 1937, but it is not a monument with a ticket office and opening hours: you look at it from outside. The best spot is the road climbing towards the village, where the keep appears whole, turrets against the sky.
Our editors' tip
Bring a map and pick out Zuccarello up the valley and the rock of Castelvecchio di Rocca Barbena behind it: half a minute and you understand why the castle sits exactly there. Then go down to the village for the oratory of San Giovanni Battista and the parish church of Sant'Alessandro papa: the Costa paintings have gone to the museums of Albenga, but the buildings that held them have not. With time to spare, carry on into the Val Pennavaire, under the rock faces that have become a draw for free climbers.