Every town has a place where hundreds of people can gather for fun and games and where each one can set his problems aside and ward off anxiety and everyday tensions. In Alba this place is known as the Mermet Fronton (local handball game).
Built in 1855, it is situated in the heart of the Hamlet of the Frogs, along the ancient glacis which surrounded the city in medieval times.

Originally it had been foreseen to build an enclosure which could seat eight hundred people, plus a free area along Via degli Spalti which could hold up to one thousand more and such a decision was justified by the great desire of the people of Alba to get together to follow the typical game of the Langhe.
The people of the Hamlet of the Frogs do not have their own trade mark, such as that of a historical hamlet uncontaminated by continued urban migration because of its aristocratic dominion, or that of a suburb entrenched outside the city walls which had to protect its own identity. Even though the presence of soldiers garrisoned at the Castle, the Castrum Vetus, recalls inns, quarrels, night-time disturbances and gambling, and the way of life of the people living on the Tanaro plain, towards the Mill of Via Vivaro, mainly fisher folk and farmers, denotes a simple, destitute people, today we can no longer state the same.

The tearing down of the unhealthy area of Via Macrino, and the restoration of the houses in the age-old alleys that made up the inconsistent Medieval road system, have brought and will continue to bring new vigour, uses and habits.
A stream, remembered as the béaléra of the millstream, drew water from the Tanaro near Roddi and powered the mills situated along the way. Of these, the most important was certainly the Vivaro Mill, better known historically because it had witnessed the hoax played by French Marshal Carlo Cossé di Brissac on the night of 13th November 1552 when, after having bribed the miller, he climbed over the nearby walls and captured Alba. The mill, whose architecture was modified over time, was operational though without water, until 1945. It can be seen beyond the level crossing in Via Virano.
The mill has been a point of reference for some of the important moments in the history of Alba and, in consequence, in the history of the Hamlet of the Frogs. Owned by the municipality following royal privileges granted by the Emperors, it passed on to the Anjou by cession of municipal rights, and thereafter to the Marquis of Monferrato who later donated it to the Blessed Margherita di Savoia together with other property.

When the Hamlet of the Frogs was set up, the organisers had chosen gold and sky blue tinctures and on the coat of arms had superimposed the profile of the old castle, a symbol of strength, with that of a frog as a reminder of the “Club of Frogs”, a happy brigade which, setting its worries aside, tried to live life in a healthy, playful manner.
The very name and the way in which this little animal lives had suggested to past organisers tactics typical of great strategists: attack, capture of the prey, fast retreat, then nothing. That is, in effect, what happened with the characters of this hamlet: they used to meet a little before the Palio, run, perhaps win, then they disappeared. It was useless to look for them during the year, they lived in a world of their own: impenetrable, secret and shy. Just like frogs.

Victories: 1976, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 2004.