Altare is a small town in the Ligurian Apennines whose history is inseparable from the craft of glassmaking. French families brought the technique here in the 11th century, drawn by the dense forests that provided fuel for the furnaces. By 1552, the guild of glass craftsmen — known as the "Università del Vetro" — had its statutes formally recognised by the Monferrato, and it effectively governed the town until 1823.
The tradition survives today through the Società Artistica Vetraria, which has maintained a glass-blowing furnace alongside the modern industrial plant since 1856. The best examples of Altare's distinctive glasswork are on display at the Villa Rosa Glass Museum, an elegant Art Nouveau townhouse with a working demonstration furnace in the garden.
The churches are worth a look too: the Annunziata was built in the late 15th century over an older Romanesque structure whose bell tower still stands, while the parish church of Sant'Eugenio, with its facade set between two campaniles, is a fine piece of late 17th-century baroque. Just east of town, the Colle di Cadibona marks the geographical boundary between the Ligurian Alps and the Apennines — a modest pass with an outsized significance in Italian geography.