Cairo Montenotte rises in a vast plain, overlooking the left riverside of the Bormida di Spigno, the most populated center in Liguria among those that do not overlook the sea. It was a Roman station on the Via Giulia Augusta, it returned to the Marca Aleramica and then to the possessions of Bonifacio del Vasto and the Marquises del Carretto. Starting from 1339 Cairo was governed by the Scarampi of Asti, who remained lords of the village for many centuries, profoundly marking its history. In 1796 the famous battle of Montenotte was fought in the area, in which a young Napoleon showed off his great strategic and tactical skills, routing the Austro-Piedmontese troops.
The center of the village, with a rectangular plan, has the characteristics of a medieval village, with a portion of the fourteenth-century city wall still visible. The main access road to the city was Porta Soprana: with a square plan, it was built between the 12th and 14th centuries in river stone and brick, with two ogival arches that lead into the historic center of the town. Here it is possible to admire numerous noble palaces (Palazzo Grondona, Palazzo Cambiaso and Palazzo Scarampi), the Tower of the prison, the Porta Ferrini (or Sottana) the squares and the arcades that animate it. Among the religious buildings, the seventeenth-century parish church of San Lorenzo (but built in the twelfth century) with frescoes by Girolamo Brusca and a crucifix by Anton Maria Maragliano and the church of San Rocco outside the walls are worth a visit. Above, the ruins of the castle dominate the scene, built in the 12th century by Ottone del Carretto and changed hands several times. It was abandoned by the Scarampis, the last owners, in the 16th century: today it is striking for its dominant position over the village and for the complexity of the structure, but it is difficult to identify the various parts and little remains from the Carretto period.
In Palazzo Scarampi, in the historic center, the Ferrania Film Museum has found its headquarters since 2018, inaugurated in 2018 and is dedicated to the FILM/Ferrania/3M company, once a producer of photosensitive material, which with its products has crossed the history of cinema and photography. A museum of industrial and territorial culture, dedicated to the film factory, born in 1917 in Ferrania: films, machinery, instruments, blow-ups, videos and multimedia stations tell the story of the large factory, the stories of men and of production, technologies, the culture of the image and the ongoing relationship between technical and scientific innovations and the world of art, cinema, fashion and photography.
Various interesting excursions can also be made in the municipal area. The Adelasia nature reserve, established in 1976 and open since 1989, covers an area of about 500 hectares in the upper part of the Rio Ferranietta basin. Among beech woods, centuries-old chestnut trees and streams of crystal clear water, four routes differing in difficulty and length lead the visitor to discover the park and the traces of important historical events such as the famous battle of Montenotte. In the hamlet of Rocchetta (also famous for its amaretti biscuits), there is the wildlife oasis of Rocchetta di Cairo. It develops partly in a vast flat area created by the Bormida river and partly in a hilly area. The rich fauna includes mammals, amphibians and reptiles, but the most interesting aspect of the oasis is the ornithological one, due to the more than 130 species of birds that nest, winter or stop in the area during the migration period.
