 In 1199, the Communitas Diani was established, merging several settlements of the Diano valley, and in 1228 it became an integral part of the Republic of Genoa.By the 16th century, the community was made up of about sixty families and it eventually became the main commercial base for olive oil in the whole western Ligurian Riviera; the Dianese harbor, due to its natural shape, was a strategic point for the goods that reached the main European ports by sea.This lucrative trade had to contend with increasingly frequent pirate raids, forcing the Genoese senate to erect fortifications and watchtowers along the territory, with the substantial help of the local population.