Zerba is situated in the Boreca Valley, and it is possible to reach it following State Road 45 Piacenza – Genova, and then turning onto Provincial Road 18.
It is the least populated village of Emilia Romagna and it lays in the western part of it.
Boreca Valley, formed by Boreca Stream, a tributary of the river Trebbia, lays in the core of a large area called “The Four Apennine Provinces”, where the mountains of the provinces of Piacenza, Genoa, Alessandria and Pavia border and are culturally grouped with common habits and traditions.
The mountain landscape is extraordinarily beautiful and unspoilt: the mountains rich in clear waters are covered by high prairies above the woods while the valley bottom is characterized by overhangs on the Boreca.
A legend tells that Zerba was founded by some Carthaginian soldiers of the army of Hannibal who retreated to these areas after the Battle of the Trebbia (Rivalta, 218 BC). This would be the reason for the similarity between some place names in the Boreca Valley and some Tunisian place names: Zerba/Djerba, Suzzi/Sussie, Bogli/Bougie; an ancient mule track is also called the Hannibal Road.
Taking a great leap in time Zerba, like the surrounding areas, was ceded as a fief to the Malaspina del Ramo Secco Family who were the landowners of the area until the Napoleonic suppression.
Zerba is a small village rich in history formed by 5 groups of houses, each one characterized by a monument:
In the typical restaurants, the cuisine is mountainous with Lombard, Ligurian and Piedmontese influences.
They serve potato dumplings, a speciality of this area, ravioli pasta with "tucco" (sauce of meat and mushrooms), rice with porcini mushrooms, legume soups, polenta with game, hazelnut cake and chestnut cake called “castagnaccio". The wines range from local wines, to Piedmontese and those of Oltrepo' Pavese.
In Zerba, a restaurant and a shop have recently opened.
The area in the municipality of Zerba and its surroundings is an outdoor gym.
Tourism is mainly made up of people who hike and who go skiing in the winter season.
The favourite destinations of hikers are the mounts Alfeo (1650), Cavalmurone (1670), Chiappo (1700), Tartago (1688) and Lesima (1724), all of them among the highest peaks of the Apennines. Projects are underway to connect the inhabitants of the municipality restoring the ancient mule tracks passable by mountain bike. Nearby is the famous tourist resort of Capannette di Cosola.
A Local Association that is dedicated to enlivening the evenings of August and September has been active in Zerba for 55 years.
The first event of the season is between 6th and 12th August with the feast of the Madonna of the Snow, the “Polentata” on 14th August and the patron Saint Michael festival on 29th September, with traditional “Potato Dumplings feast” and an exhibition of mountain products.
It is also important to visit the village of Cerreto with its characteristic stone houses and the Church of Saint Rocco founded in the Middle Ages. Interesting and unique is the mill with a circular shape, in which an electric turbine was installed in the 1950s. The nearby B&B opens upon request. Another interesting town in the area, belonging to the municipality of Ottone, is Bogli. For lovers of classical music it is known that the village gave birth to the ancestors of Arturo Toscanini. Its toponym is very curious because it refers to a bucket and the town itself appers morphologically to be in a basin.
