The name dates back to the fifteenth century and means tavern, since the original core of the country had to be a place of refreshment and rest, a tavern in fact.
Its history dates back resulting from an event of a religious nature, and that is the apparition of the Virgin Mary (called "Oak") to shepherds of the place, towards the end of 1300. In 1400, after being the property of the Visconti, became feud of Nicelli, against which broke out in a bloody battle, the family of Camia.
Was to put an end to this relentless guerrilla Pope Paul III built on the right bank of the Nure Torre Farnese, appointing a commissioner, administrator of justice. Part of Nicelli feud passed to the ducal chamber until the establishment of the community of Val Nure who ruled until the advent of the Napoleonic regime.
The village of Bettola is now divided into two villages, connected by the bridge over the Nure: San Bernardino and San Giovanni on the right bank to the left.
In San Bernardino is the beautiful parish church of 1600, decorated with frescoes by Giovanni B. Galluzzi 1716; in San Giovanni, in addition to the homonymous church of 1885, also known as the Sanctuary of the Madonna della Quercia Romanesque paintings by Luciano Ricchetti, is the vast central square in the center with the Christopher Columbus monument, erected in 1892 to commemorate the great navigator original Pradello, mountain village bettolese with Colombian small museum housed in the tower-house belonged to the family Colombo.
The economy is supported by agriculture, handicraft businesses, small industries and tourism especially in the summer months, also composed of natives emigrated to France nostalgically returning every year to visit family and friends.
Interesting routes leading to Passo del Cerro and then towards Mount Osero 1300 meters, reaching the villages Leggio and Calenzano with breathtaking view of the plain of Piacenza.
Others are the Passo del Pia, places of gathering for hunters in August; Prato Barbieri to 925 meters, and continuing in a wooded area of ??oak and beech forests Gropparello where we meet the beautiful Castle Rossoreggio once owned by Nicelli, Veleia Romana and Morfasso, which houses the Farnese Tower currently transformed into a charming villa.