Arzelato is located right in the middle of the beautiful panoramic road that connects the town of Pontremoli up to the Rossano valley. 

The village is made up of some scattered houses, called “villas”, which overlook the Teglia valley. All around, the forest advances to occupy the ancient pastures and cultivated fields, creating glimpses of rare beauty. 

The small houses of the historic nucleus almost protect what was once a fortification, today known as the church of St. Michele; right here, for centuries, every 29th September the phenomenon of winged ants has been repeated, which swarm during the warming of the seasons, where a very particular legend still seems to hover. 

The parish church of St. Michele Arcangelo is mentioned only starting from 1470, but appears to be much older: the lack of mention in previous documents could depend on the fact that it was not attributed to the Diocese of Luni but to that of Brugnato, as others present in neighbouring territories. 

Certain information testifies to the presence, in remote times, of fortified structures of considerable importance in the area where this sacred building stands: indirect evidence of the existence of walls, perhaps of a castle, is precisely the reason for the spiral conformation of the town itself. 

However, the human presence in this place goes even further back in time. In fact, the area appears to have been frequented since prehistoric times, as evidenced by the cremation tomb with Bronze Age finds discovered in 1938 in an area not far from Arzelato.