Piazza Madonna della Guardia

Heart of the historic center of Borghetto Santo Spirito, Piazza Madonna della Guardia contains some of the main beauties of Borghetto Santo Spirito. In the Square stands the only one of the four Gates that the village originally had: the western gate towards Ceriale. The first two Gates, the Marina Gate, called “il Portello” or “Portino” and the Loano Gate, also called “Porta del Verzaio”, disappeared demolished by the engineers of the revolutionary French Army, which in 1794 had occupied the riviera di ponente and the territory of Borghetto, in view of the Napoleonic battle of Loano. The third gate of Toirano, which opened onto the countryside, was demolished around 1877.
The Gate of Madonna della Guardia, which overlooks the seventeenth-century “ciassà”, was called for centuries “Porta della fontana”, because it led to the fountain located outside the walls, at the foot of Monte Piccaro, in the current Piazza della Fontana, where the waters of the public wash-house still flow today, built in 1902.
After 1637, when on the night between 1 and 2 July Borghetto lived right in front of the Gate the most dramatic episode of its history, the sudden assault of Barbary pirates, fortunately failed, the salvation of the town was attributed precisely to the presence of the statue of the Madonna placed to guard the country.