Vesime lies on the banks of the Bormida river, at the foot of the high Langa hills, in a valley where vineyards sit side-by-side with woodland and hazelnut groves, sloping down to the water.
The village has a distinct valley-floor feel: roads, fields, bridges, all factors which have shaped its past and present. Above the village sit the ruins of the castle, imposing and irregular, its tower still peering over the treetops. This fortress was destroyed in the 17th century during the Spanish campaigns and today climbing up to the ruins gives you a feel of how the garrison once controlled the valley.
But Vesime is perhaps best know for an extraordinary story: the “Excelsior” partisan airport. Between 1944 and 1945, a strip of land between Vesime and Cortemilia was transformed into a clandestine air strip, used by British and Canadian aircraft for landing allied soldiers and supplies. This remarkable story is recounted in a dedicated exhibition and museum, on a journey that reconstructs the Excelsior adventure through information and multimedia content.
