An agricultural center on the Po Valley side of the Ligurian Appennines, situated in a broad valley surrounded by hills covered with vineyards and chestnut coppices. It was mentioned under the name “Meolia” in Otto I’s diploma of 967 and became a fief of the Del Carretto in the twelfth century. Part of the marquisate of Monferrato for a short time, it was occupied by the dukes of Milan in 1431 and annexed to the kingdom of Sardinia in 1735. The baroque parish church of Sant'Andrea, with a portal dating from 1701 and a carved wooden altar, was built between 1650 and 1750. Forestry and farming are still the principal economic activities.