Situated in the upper Val Bormida, on a heavily-wooded branch of the Bormida di Pallare, its name derives from a species of oak. Subject to the municipium of Alba in the Roman era, the locality was included in the marquisate of Finale and then ruled by the Spanish from the second half of the sixteenth century until 1713, when it passed to the republic of Genoa. It became independent in 1795. The parish church of San Marco (1809) is in late baroque style with a campanile alongside the façade. The oratory of the Santissima Annunziata, in the locality of Biestro, dates from 1580 and houses frescoes and a painting by the school of Guido Reni. In the surrounding woods there are unusual remains of quarries, known as “Napoleon’s Stones.” In addition to several gravel quarries and sawmills, the local economy is based on forestry and stock raising.