Once upon a time, before year 1000, in Badalucco - a small town near Taggia, in Argentina Valley - a cruel, greedy, and tyrannical Count named Oberto, governed all the county land forcing his subjects to each one of his wishes and desires. A notably pleasing desire to the noble was the redemption of the droit de seigneur, ie the right to spend, on the occasion of the wedding of one of his serfs, the wedding night with the bride.
Count Oberto was not a man of noble sentiments and apparently was not even particularly attractive, but those daring to shirk this feudal law, would face certain death.
Legend has it, however, that in the thirteenth century, a young beautiful couple in love escaped the will of Count Oberto, managing to run away just immediately after the wedding and sheltering in the nearby mountains. The couple remained hidden for a long time, and then friends and relatives reached them and moved there, falling in love with the beauty of the place.
Thus the village of Montalto Ligure was born, also known as the "village of love", where even today, many Italian and foreign couples decide to get married at a magic place called "Loggia degli Sposi" (Loggia of the Newlyweds).
Deborah Bellotti
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