A medieval town belonging to the marchesi di Clavesana, it was ceded to the free commune of Albenga at the beginning of the thirteenth century and its fortifications were completely rebuilt from 1250 onward. Set at the confluence of the Lerrone and Arroscia, which already provided a natural defense, its walls proved invaluable for protecting the population from the frequent raids by Barbary pirates. Coming under the control of Genoa, Villanova shared the decline of Albenga. After a series of different governments in the eighteenth century, its annexation to the kingdom of Sardinia ruled by the house of Savoy (Congress of Vienna, 1815) marked the start of a period of greater tranquillity that allowed it to devote itself to the specialized agricultural activities (flowers, vegetables, fruit trees) for which it is still known today. The battlemented walls, over seven meters or twenty-three feet high, have two gates and a total of ten round or polygonal towers. The layout within the walls has a recognizably military character, with streets that intersect at right angles at regular intervals. In the center of the town stands a characteristic well (which still has its old chains and buckets) and a seventeenth-century oratory. Outside the walls the church of Santo Stefano in Pian Cavatorio marks the original position of the settlement before the construction of the “new town.” Built in the twelfth century in the Romanesque style but substantially modified subsequently, it has a distyle porch at the front and is flanked by a perfectly-preserved bell tower with a spire and two-light windows. Another historic building is the small church of Santa Maria della Rotonda, constructed in 1520 on a central plan and flanked by a squat campanile with a spire. Nearby stands the small baroque church of Nostra Signora delle Grazie.