Once called Rupes, then Rocca San Genesio and Rocca Ayraci, it was a fief of the bishop of Asti. In 1198 the bishop gave in to the Comune of Asti and left it the rock, saying he lacked the means to defend so important a bulwark on the road to Asti. Neither the pope nor the archbishop of Milan approved, and fighting followed for years.
The quarrel ended in 1221: the fief stayed with the Church of Asti, the Comune could keep a garrison, and the bishop got a house in the castle for his holidays. Later Giovanni Cacherano obtained from Charles V the right to mint coin, in 1538, and the Cacherano never used it.
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
Near Rocca d'Arazzo
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Places to see within 25 km
Outside Rocca d'Arazzo, but an easy day trip away.