If you opt for a European tourist destination, consider the Liguria region of northern Italy, is commonly as the Italian Riviera known. This thin strip of land located on the Ligurian Sea, not far from Monaco and the Cote d'Azur French. While Liguria is by no means undiscovered, its crowds are much smaller than the next door. There are many small towns and villages and an international port city almost Smack Dab in the middle of the coast. This article explores Liguria west of Genoa, oras the locals call it, the Riviera di Ponente (Riviera of the setting sun.) Make sure you read the other articles in this series: eastern Liguria, Genoa and Cinque Terre, five little seaside villages, perhaps only your heart to steal.
We start our west of Genoa to the coastal town Pegli. We drive south along the coast of Albisola Marina, Savona, Finale Ligure, Imperia, Bussana Vecchia, San Remo, Bordighera, Ventimiglia, and finally, the Hanbury Botanical Gardens, west ofthe French border.
As the capital of Liguria Genoa, it was almost swallowed little Pegli. You can walk around and see traces of his past. Its two main attractions are the Villa Doria and the Villa Durazzo Pallavicini. The sixteenth century Villa Doria is now the Genoa Naval and Maritime Museum in honor of the world's most famous sailor, Christopher Columbus. The nineteenth-century Villa Durazzo Pallavicini houses the Museo Civico di Archeologica Ligure (Liguria Civic Archaeological Museum)with a beautiful park, lakes, caves and a medieval castle style.
Albisola Marina, the population of fifty-five hundred, is famous for ceramics. I was told that the experts can identify Albisolan ceramics from their shape, pattern and colors. In any case, the Lungomare Degli Artisti (Artists Seafront) near the beach going and you will find find great souvenirs of Liguria. Stop by to see the luxurious Villa Durazzo Eighteenth Century Faraggiana. Make sure that you are happy to see their groundTiles. It is close to the baroque parish church of Nostra Signora della Concordia (Our Lady of Harmony).
Savona, the population slightly more than sixty thousand, is an important industrial center and seaport. In some ways away in competition with Genoa only thirty miles (forty-five kilometers). In the sixteenth century, their competition was warmer, fearing Genoa Savona port and rendered it useless, filled with the sinking of ships with large stones. Unfortunately, the fifteenth-century Palazzo della Rovere is (Della RoverePalace) is not accessible to the public. The palace faces the somewhat newer cathedral. Close by is the Cappella Sistina (Sistine Chapel), not to be confused with the residence of the Pope in the Vatican City. Savona is the home of some medieval towers, open by appointment only. On Good Friday of even-numbered years, the city hosts a major Easter Parade.
Finale Ligure, population twelve thousand, was originally settled about six years ago, when people lived in caves and not roam dinosaursthe earth. If you want to enjoy the seaside go to the Finale Ligure Marina (Finalmarina) part of town. The traditional center of the town is called Finale Pia (Finalpia). Finalborgo, the third part of Finale Ligure, located further inland is an old walled medieval town.
Finale Ligure has lots of churches, some dating back to the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries. Its Fourteenth Century Santa Catherina (Saint Catherine) Church, originally built as a convent, now hosts a paleontology and Archeology Museum. The landscape in the vicinity of Finale Ligure is known for unusual plants and animals.
Imperia, population forty thousand, is actually two cities in one. Oneglia is an oil refinery, and pharmaceuticals center. Why do you want to visit there? The Museo dell 'Olivo (Olive Oil Museum) is dedicated to that most delicious oil, spanning nations and centuries. The situation is quite appropriate, at one point something Oneglia controls the oil commerce for all of Europe. Imperia othercity, Porto Maurizio, has a medieval city center and some palaces. The relatively recent Cathedral, completed in 1832, is the largest church in all Liguria. The city hosts the Naval Museum of Western Ligura known for its collection of shipbuilding tools.
Bussana Vecchia is an artist’s colony that emerged from a ghost town. In 1887 an earthquake destroyed a village in the Ligurian hills east of San Remo (see below). The survivors built huts near the entrance to the village but abandoned after seven years. For over six decades, the whole area was abandoned. Then in the early 1960s, an Italian artist, Colonia Internazionale degli Artisti (International Artist Colony) started for dancers, musicians, painters, sculptors and writers. As a true artist, it respects the characteristics of medieval buildings, used bricks and stones reclaimed from the wreckage, and left the old facades. Do not miss it.
San Remo, population under sixty thousand, is thelargest tourist resort in western Liguria. Tucked in between the Mediterranean and enjoy the Southern Alps is an excellent climate. In low season, San Remo is probably the only animated site in western Liguria. It is an international center of flower, handling an estimated twenty thousand of tons of flowers (flowers, the actions by the ton?) Per year. But like the old gray mare, San Remo is not what it once was. They told me that no longer depends on royalties hat in this area. Is that aReason not to visit?
For example, you should see the Russian Orthodox Church of San Basilio see less than a century ago built by expatriate Russians. If you like the gambling life, hit the tables in the Art Nouveau Casino San Remo. Who knows what great person you can see there? The Casino Theater hosts the annual San Remo Song Festival, which runs already since 1951. The first festival attracted only three singers. I call no names, but a famous (at least for the Italians) participantscommitted suicide after realizing that his song was eliminated from the competition.
La Pigna, in the historic center of San Remo is from about a thousand years and still maintains a lot of its unique character. Pigna, ie, pine cones, the streets here to the little hill, like the scales of pine cones curl. You start with the fourteenth-century Gothic stone arch Porta di Santo Stefano (St. Stephen's Gate) and then always discover more and more the good old stuff, churches,Villas, palaces and the like. Perhaps royalties and their supporters to not just know what eludes them.
Bordighera, the population is slightly more than ten thousand, has long been a popular resort, especially for the British, who at one time more numerous than the natives. It is well known for flowers and palms, proudly in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome used on Palm Sunday. Bordighera was the first city in Europe to grow date palms, long before global warming. According to legend,local date palms growing out of the Egyptian mines planted at the beginning of the fifth century. The Lungomare Argentina (Argentina Promenade) has an excellent view of the Cote d'Azur, French and other churches. The seventeenth-century parish church of Santa Maria Maddalena has beautiful bell tower and holds the relics of Sant'Ampelio, the patron saint of the city. He is the one said to have planted the first Egyptian date pits.
Ventimiglia, twenty-five thousand population, is only about four miles(seven kilometers) from the French border. It contains the remains of a Roman theater and the old city wall. That is all, new potatoes when compared caves Ventimiglia. One of them contained three skeletons of Cro-Magnon man, a man, a woman and a child of ten thousand years or so. The well-preserved medieval center of the city on a hill overlooking the new city of towers.
They believe in recycling here. The church of San Michele was built on the foundations of a paganTemple. The Eleventh Century Romanesque cathedral was built on the ruins of an earlier Lombard church, built on a Roman building, perhaps a temple.
Our last stop in this part of the world, the Botanical Garden Hanbury (Hanbury Botanical Gardens) on a small peninsula situated on the steep Mediterranean Sea. At approximately 44 hectares (18 acres) is one of the largest in Italy, but currently grown only about half of the property is. You can find samples from fiveContinents, including palm trees, but the villa from the outside.
And the food? Despite such a long coastline, Ligurian cooking is not nearly as intense as you might think seafood. The Ligurian coast is not as rich a variety of seafood as well as providing the eastern Adriatic coast in Italy and its Mediterranean coast further south. Instead of crying about it Ligura their own specialties, but also a vegetable pie, a favorite of the sailors that was certainly a change in developedfrom the old fish.
Let's suggest a sample menu, one of many. Start with pansoti con salsa di noci (ravioli with walnut sauce). Then try polp e Patate (stewed octopus with potatoes). For dessert, let Tart with Castagnaccio (Chestnut and pine nuts.) Be sure to increase your dining pleasure, including local wines with dinner.
We conclude with a brief look at Liguria wine. Liguria has a lot of room for grapes. It is part of 19thamong the 20 Italian regions for areas dedicated to vine and for the total annual wine production. About 34% of red wine or rose, with 66% white. The region produces eight DOC wines. DOC stands for Controlled Denomination of Origin, as Denomination of Controlled Origin, presumably a high-quality wine can be translated. About 14% of Ligurian wine carries the DOC designation.
There are three DOC wines in the Riviera diPonente area. The Riviera Ligure di Ponente DOC can be produced almost anywhere in western Liguria. It is always dry, but may be red or white and comes from a variety of local grapes. The dry or sweet Pornassio / Ormeasco di Pomassio DOC is produced in a small area north of Imperia Ormeasco from the local red grape called Dolchetto elsewhere. This grape is Gamay are similar, so if you like Beaujolais is there a good chance that you will like this wine. The Rossese diDolce Acqua / Acqua Dolce is produced in a small area at the western tip of Liguria, from a local red grapes. It is best known wines of Liguria. Liguria exports very little wine to North America, so that you may have to go there to taste the wines. To tell you the truth, there are many better reasons to visit this beautiful area.
