Ognio

Ognio is a small village in the Fontanabuona valley, part of the Neirone municipality in the Genoa metropolitan area. It sits on a hillside above the provincial road that runs through the valley. The village has kept its own street numbering and postcode despite being administratively joined to Neirone in 1804. The church of San Rocco, built between 1582 and 1603, became a parish under Archbishop Orazio Spinola. Inside are an 1888 organ restored in 2016 and a statue of the saint from 1875. The village’s history includes a 1660 clash over an itinerant preacher named Cesare Connio. A public fountain was added in 1904, and the local trattoria has served since 1856, now listed among Italy’s historic eateries. In the main square stands the Don Paolo Schenone primary school, the only state school for the whole Neirone area. A stone bridge, closed to traffic, crosses the valley stream near a modern viaduct. The patronal feast on 16 August features a cake fair now in its fortieth year. Holidaymakers and walkers use the village as a base for the surrounding countryside and its guesthouses.