At the corner between via d'Aste and Via Oddo, right in front of the portal of the Church of Santa Maria in Fontibus, we find the Tower and the Casa Cazzulini . The Cazzulini tower is the first one we meet upon entering Albenga starting from Piazza del Popolo, it is 21 meters high and is well preserved in detail. Thanks to the stone base, only interrupted by the frame, the imposing dimensions of the bricks and the lack of slits on the ground floor, it is considered an excellent example of civil architecture of the first half of the 13th century.
You must know that, in most of the documents, it was described almost as a hanging garden, as on its top we could find a fig tree or an olive tree. Around the entire surface of the tower, today we find mullioned windows (windows with a single arch), which in most cases replace more articulated windows.
The tower takes its name from the Cazzulini family , a lineage present in Albenga since the early twelfth century. Probably their name derives from their country of origin, Caso (Caxu in dialect), placed under what is now the Madonna della Guardia, a place that was an integral part of Albenga but under the jurisdiction of Alassio. Alternatively, for the meaning of their surname, we can refer, as did the Cazzulini themselves, to the intrinsic local dialectal meaning referring to the ladle or wooden trowel , then reported in the family crest, within two horizontal red bands and gold.
The Cazzulini were feudal lords of another large family, the Clavesana, for whom they ruled some villages in the hinterland: Arnasco, Menosio, Cenesi and Ortovero. In addition to this they had great economic and political strength in Albenga, they are present with three representatives within the Municipal Council, as can be found in some documents dating back to 1222. Furthermore, a member of the family, Guglielmo Cazzulini , had reached the charge and Aicardo Cazzulini, we have testimony of his mercantile activities which brought wealth and prosperity to the family. The latter, in 1236, thanks to the relationship of trust that existed with the Embriaci family, had managed to obtain from the Clavesana, the Castellania of Riveraro, becoming the lord of Rivernate, Arnasco, Cenesi, Bezzo, Menosio, Massaro. Currently the interior of the tower is used as housing.