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In the Roman period the plain was occupied by the village of Alba Docilia, many remains of which have been found out through archaeologic excavations started beginning from the end of the 19th century in proximity to the church of San Pietro (10th century), the first rural settlement following the Roman age. The most interesting finding was represented by a great villa dating back to the imperial age: there storehouses and workshops for agricultural labours were joined with the residential rooms. We must connect its decline with the first Barbarian invasions which caused the abandoning of the place. The population grouped at the foot of the hill Castellaro, provided with a fortified structure, and gave origin to the first village of Albisola. It belonged to the Marquess Bonifacio del Vasto and then to the Marquesses of Ponzone, and became free town in the 13th century.

The medieval economy of Albisola based itself essentially on agricultural cultivations (vineyards, vegetables, orchards), made possible by the early reclamation of the plain cultivated with profitable ploughs hauled by oxen, which were scarcely used in the Liguria of that time.

Albissola Marina developed step by step in a successive period around the church of San Benedetto, which derives according to the tradition, from the Abbey of San Colombano in Bobbio. Only towards the end of the 16th century the two villages became independent. In the same time a flourishing production of artistic ceramics prospered very appreciated in the world. The ceram ic laboratories always remain one of the main activities of the locality.