The date of Guardia's foundation is unknown, and the name of the place has changed several times in history. "Guardia" means watch or lookout, and this name is probably related to a lookout tower built in the 11th century. Such lookout towers () were built to warn against Arab pirates, then called
Saracens, ravaging the coast. Guardia used to be called
Guardia Fiscaldi, after the powerful local feudal lords Fiscaldo/Fuscaldo, originating from
Fuscaldo. After the settlement of
Waldensian refugees who spoke the Occitan language, the place gained the name of
Guardia dei Valdi. After their suppression, the name became
Guardia Lombarda, which was changed to Guardia Piemontese in 1863. During the 12th and 13th centuries, Waldensians arrived in Calabria from the
Kingdom of Arles and
Dauphiné, which had part of his territories also in the most western valleys of
Piedmont. By 1315, they had settled in
Montalto Uffugo, later also in
San Sosti dei Valdesi,
Vacarizzo and
San Vincenzo. The local feudal lords, the
Spinelli, being lords of Fuscaldo, granted them refuge. For a long period, the Waldensians pretended to live as Roman Catholics, attending the
Holy Mass and having their children baptised in Catholic churches. However, privately they stuck to their beliefs and received travelling Waldensian preachers for few days in intervals of about two years. In 1532, they decided at their Synod of Chanforan (in Piedmont) to confess their beliefs openly. Thereupon, Calabrian Waldensians sent Marco Uscegli as an envoy to
Geneva, with the request for preachers to be dispatched. In this way the preacher
Gian Luigi Pascale came to Calabria, and he established Waldensian churches in Guardia Piemontese and San Sosti. The Waldensians in their traditional areas in Piedmont did the same, and in 1560 the locally powerful
Bishop of Mondovì,
Cardinal Michele Ghislieri (later to become
Pope Pius V), initiated a crusade against the Waldensians. The Calabrian Roman Catholic Abbot Giovan Antonio Anania informed Ghislieri that the Waldensians in Calabria had meanwhile also adopted preachers of their own, Some spioncini can still be found in frontdoors. The Waldensian church was demolished. On its site, today's
Piazza Chiesa Valdese, a piece of rock from Piedmont was put in 1975, donated by Guardia's twin city Torre Pellice in memory of the descent of many Guardioti from the Piedmontese rocky Alps. The names of 118 known victims of the 1561 massacre are listed in a plaque at the rock. In memory of the eradication of the Waldensian heresy, Salvatore Spinelli donated the
Dominican church
Chiesa del SS. Rosario in Guardia. ==Twin towns==