In the 7th century the Lombards founded the important abbey of Tolla, which was the center of economic and political power for a vast territory until the 12th-12th centuries. The abbey, of which the memory remains in the hamlet of Monastero, built along the course of the Arda (today the ruins of subsequent buildings can be seen at the height of the Casella di Monastero locality), exercised a strategic function of supporting an important communication route that from Fiorenzuola following the Arda reached the castle of Sperongia and then the Pelizzone Pass, from here it descended to Bardi and headed towards Mount Bardone (Cisa) and Pontremoli to finally reach Rome. It was the first route of the Via Francigena, also documented later, for centuries, by incontrovertible documents.
Once the abbey fell into ruin, after hectic eras of feudal struggles and transfers, this area was aggregated to the Farnesian State of Parma and Piacenza.