At the foot of the rocca (6 km from the current centre of Barge) the proconsul Gaius Vibius Pansa founded a Roman market settlement called Forum Vibii Cabur.

The first document mentioning the name of Barge dates back to 1001, an imperial diploma of Otto III.

Between the 11th and 13th centuries, it was under the rule of a lordly consortium, called "Dei Signori di Barge", who swore allegiance at the same time to both the House of Savoy and the Marquises of Saluzzo.

From the middle of the 16th century, the area suffered from frequent wars, with Spanish, French and Piedmontese armies passing through, aiming to control the important castle, and leaving destruction and misery in their wake, culminating with an epidemic of the plague in 1630, which left the region depopulated.

Barge has a small but attractive historic centre with a warren of narrow streets, abutted by the fast-flowing Chiappera and Infernotto streams and overlooked by the ruins of the Castello Inferiore, with the green foothills of the Cottian Alps beyond.

The streets are lined with small shops and cafés, and a weekly market takes place in the covered marketplace.