Municipality of Rocca De’ Giorgi

Rocca de’ Giorgi, home of an ancient parish church of the diocese of Piacenza, has been fortified since the early Middle Ages, probably thanks to an ancient lord named Aimerico.. It was called Rocca di Aimerico when, in 1164, it is mentioned among the places in the Oltrepò that passed under the dominion of Pavia. It was then a seigniory of the Campeggi family from Pavia, from which it took the name Rocca Campesana; then it passed under the power of the Sannazzaro and, through marriage, to Fiorello Beccaria, who rebuilt the fort, called Rocca di Messer Fiorello or Roccafirella since then. In the dominion of the Beccaria, the village came, with the fief of Montecalvo, to the branch of Montebello. After the extinction of the Beccaria in 1629, it was bought by the Counts Giorgi di Vistarino, who were also the feudal lords of Pietra de’ Giorgi and from whom it took its new name over time. Their descendants are still the largest land owners in the municipality, even after the abolition of feudalism in 1797. In 1938 the hamlet of Vallorsa, from the dissolved municipality of Montù Berchielli (divided between Montalto Pavese and Ruino), was united to Rocca de’Giorgi.