It is located on the left bank of theScrivia river. The name derives from the Latinarcuata (arched), due to the presence of an aqueduct supplying the nearby Roman town ofLibarna, on theVia Postumia.
It is mentioned as acastrum (fortress) in the 11th century, and later was contended between theRepublic of Genoa and the commune ofTortona: after they signed a peace agreement in 1227, they dismantled the castle. In 1313, it was given byemperor Henry VII to the GenoeseSpinola family, who were named marquisses of the town in 1641. Three years later Arquata also obtained the right to strike coins of its own.
It was sacked by French troops in 1796. The following year it was annexed to theLigurian Republic. After the fall ofNapoleon Bonaparte, it became part of theKingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont.During the First World War, British soldiers were stationed in Arquata to support Italian soldiers. A team of Red Cross nurses headed by Mrs. Marie Watkins used the theatre at Arquata Scrivia as a recreation room and canteen for British soldiers. The Communal Cemetery Extension of Arquata is the British war cemetery where British soldiers are buried who died in the war or of the Spanish flu.
