HISTORY

The origins of the village name can be traced back to the 13th century in the archaic forms of Baaluco and Badalucco, probably connected with the onomatopoeic verb “batare” or badare, the Italian equivalent of “look after”, in the sense of guarding or supervising. This interpretation is perhaps linked to its ancient function of a fortified town. Other opinions suggest the name Badalucco derives from the Latin term Bella ducius, meaning “warrior people,” likely connected to the particularly indomitable and proud character of the ancient Ligurian people who inhabited this area. Further theories suggest the name could be derived from Baal-lucus, given the nearby presence of a sacred wood (“lucus” in latin) dedicated to the Phoenician god Baal, in ancient times.

The Badalucco territory has been inhabited since ancient times, and in particular from the Copper Age in the Eneolithic period (about 2500 - 1800 BC), as attested by the funerary relics found in Tana Bertrand, a burial cave located in the Badalucco area at the foot of Monte Faudo. Discovered in 1906, these relics including a necklace in calcite beads, numerous lithic tools, bone objects and various ornaments, are now displayed in the Civic Museum of Sanremo and at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.
In pre-Roman age, the area of ​​present-day Badalucco, once called Costa Ronziglia, was inhabited by populations of Ligurian mountain tribes.
During the Iron Age the Ligurian mountain tribes who inhabited the mid Argentina Valley, settled on Monte Follia starting from the 4th century BC and fortified the Colle di San Giorgio, a very important strategic spot for the entire valley.
Tradition has it that the proconsul Lucio Emilio Paolo was sent by the Roman Senate to subdue the proud populations of western Liguria and set up camp in Campo Marzio, in 181 BC. The proconsul was attacked near the camp as Ligurian tribes who had billeted in Badalucco managed to close the north, south and sea routes to the Romans. After several days of siege, Lucio Emilio Paolo called a sudden attack against the tribes and succeeded in killing fifteen thousand men and taking two thousand as prisoners. As a consequence, the following year the whole of western Liguria fell under Roman rule. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the area went under the control of the Byzantines, who erected the castle of San Giorgio, a defensive bastion against possible coastal attacks by barbarian populations. The subsequent arrangement of western Liguria carried out by Charlemagne and his successors during the IX century assigned the territory between Monaco and the Armea Torrent to the family of the Counts of Ventimiglia.
During the XI century, the Counts of Ventimiglia constructed the castle that dominates the hill above the valley, it was from this point that the original houses of what is today Badalucco, gradually arose. In the first decades of the 13th century, Count Oberto of Ventimglia, lord of Badalucco, lived here. Oberto's administration however aroused profound discontent among the Badalucchesi, who rebelled on more than one occasion against the count's bad governance and excessive greed for money. Another reason for the rebellion of the Badalucco population was attributed to the “jus primae noctis”or the right of first night. Count Oberto in fact claimed the right to sleep with the wives of his subjects on the first night of marriage - to this day, Badalucco is known as the land of jus primae noctis, just as Triora is considered the land of the witches. Count Oberto, after his continuous abuse of the population, was besieged in his castle by a group of armed men who forced him to renounce most of the claims made, including that of the "fodro", a contribution in fodder due to the armies of the count who passed through the territory of Badalucco.
On November 24, 1259, Badalucco and Montalto became part of the Podesteria of Triora. This union brought quite a few disagreements among the respective inhabitants. Grazing land and tree felling were the problems around which most of the disputes were centered. Conflicts arose with the community of Triora over rights to the large Tomena wood. Another reason for contention between the communities of Triora, Montalto and Badalucco was offered by the criteria adopted by the Triorese mayor in distributing payment to the Genoese government. For this reason, in 1388, the mayor of Badalucco and Montalto, Giacomo Ammirato, presented a letter to the Doge of Genoa in which the inhabitants of the two villages complained about being treated unfairly in the division of the taxes to be paid. The doge then entrusted the solution of the dispute to the vicar of the western coast, who sided with Triora. This however, was not accepted by the representatives of Montalto and Badalucco, who continued to protest to the Genoese authorities. The dispute culminated in the request of separation from Triora due to numerous legal issues. In April of the following year the council of elders of Genoa, having heard all their disputes, still disagreed with the separation but gave Badalucco and Montalto the right to keep their statutes. The municipalities were also entitled to a fairer administration of their legal affairs with Triora. In 1440 the statutes of Badalucco were definitively approved by the Genoese government. According to these rules Badalucco and Montalto formed a single municipality, so the administrators were the same for both communities. Legislative power was entrusted to a parliament. The administration of the two municipalities was instead delegated to the consuls, who held the highest office in town. After the consuls, two elders per district were elected in parliament and they remained in office for about a year; they were joined by eight councilors who maintained and administered for the public good. Other officials were the mayor, one for each town, who had the task of conserving the assets of the community, two appraisers and two accountants, while the "fathers" of the municipality supervised the arrangement of the town streets and country roads with the authorization of raising fines. Finally, the “maestrali” were in charge of controlling the food distribution sector. The administration of justice was entrusted jointly to the consuls and the elders, who listened to disputes every working day except for the day of the Circumcision, Epiphany, Easter and during the period of the grape harvest, i.e. from 8th September to 1st of October.
Precise rules also regulated pastoralism with the prohibition, in particular, for foreign shepherds to stay with their herds in the territory of Badalucco and Montalto for more than two days. Thereafter, a fine of five lire for each additional grazing day was charged, while for damage caused by the flocks in sown lands, meadows, vegetable gardens or chestnut groves, the respective shepherds were sentenced to a fine of thirty coins if the damage occurred during the day and double if it occurred at night.

During the modern age, the town followed the fate of the Podesteria of Triora, whose main centres were hit by a terrible plague epidemic which caused more victims than a war in 1525. In 1588 some alleged "witches" of Badalucco were involved in the famous trial brought by the commissioner Giulio Scrivani, who went to town to interrogate these women accused of witchcraft. They were arrested and sentenced to death.
In the early decades of the seventeenth century, upon direction by the government of the Republic of Genoa, Badalucco and Montalto started the procedures relating to the registration of family assets. The results of the operation, which lasted for more than 15 years, were that the community of Badalucco had many more inhabitants than Montalto and almost double the private assets. This led the mayor of Triora to propose that Badalucco alone should pay two thirds of the taxes due to the treasury of the Republic. The Badalucchesi did not accept this proposal, judging it unfair and protested against the Genoese government. Thus, on May 22, 1688, the latter definitively sanctioned the political and administrative separation between Badalucco and Montalto.
In the following period, Badalucco remained linked to the general political events of Triora, up to the invasion of the French revolutionary troops in May 1794. With the birth of the Ligurian Republic in 1797, the municipality of Badalucco became part of the District of Argentina with Taggia as its capital. After the annexation of Liguria to the French Empire in 1805, Badalucco was assigned to the district of Sanremo. In the following decades, the town experienced a period of notable economic and social development interposed only by the advent of the First World War, during which dozens of Badalucchesi perished. Following that, Badalucco experienced a relatively quiet period, broken by the outbreak of the Second World War and more precisely until September 1943. After the signing of the armistice with the allies, the first partisan formations were organized. In the meantime, the population did their utmost to help them by providing food, clothing and all sorts of collaboration. In retaliation, the Germans set fire to numerous houses and blew up the Sant'Antonio bridge and the church of the Madonna degli Angeli. This explosion, on June 28th, 1944, destroyed all the houses in the neighbouring district.
The most important battle of the entire resistance period in Badalucco took place in the morning of September 25th, 1944, when partisans opened fire on 250 fascists and 50 Germans who were travelling up the middle Argentina Valley. At the same time the Germans were attacked by another group of partisans who forced the Nazis to surrender. The village experienced difficult months before the end of the war. On the long-awaited day of the Liberation, April 25th, 1945, the whole population of Badalucco finally took to the streets where they enthusiastically welcomed the partisan forces.
Badalucco's contribution to the War of Liberation was particularly significant, with dozens of people killed in combat, many wounded, a third of the village destroyed and immense sacrifices by the civilian population.
After the end of the conflict, Badalucco resumed its economic and social life with renewed vigour.