Bormida is a small commune in the upper valley of the Bormida di Pallare river, in the Ligurian hinterland. Its precise origins are uncertain, but it is documented from 1549, when Marchese Alfonso Del Carretto granted privileges to its inhabitants. The village subsequently passed under Spanish rule and was transferred to the Republic of Genoa in 1713, before being badly damaged in Napoleon's campaign of 1796.
The parish church of San Giorgio, built in the eighteenth century on a polygonal plan, has a projecting façade and contains notable interior decorations and frescoes. The Benedictine abbey of Fornelli, now converted to private use, dates to 1179. One local curiosity: the ancient game of pallone elastico, a form of handball played with a leather ball struck by a wooden brace strapped to the forearm, is still played here in a purpose-built court — one of very few places in Italy where the tradition survives.