From Bordighera to the French border
BORDIGHERA is a famous summer resort. A special capital of this town is the surrounding palm plantation. The leaves of these palms are used in the Vatican during Holy Week. This monopoly goes back a year 1586, when a certain captain of a ship from Bordighera went to Rome. He participated in the ceremony of placing the ancient obelisk in St. Peter's Square. Although the obelisk was in danger of collapsing, no one had dared to break the papal order of complete silence during this ceremony. The only brave man turned out to be the captain of Bordighera, who, as a reward for his cry of warning, was given the right to an exclusive and perpetual contract for his city.
The Old Town consists of a complex of medieval buildings, including several streets with restaurants and shops, and the Romanesque Cappella di Sant'Ampelio. This small part of Bordighera is far from the rest of the city (quite a long walk along a steep path or 4 kilometers by bus), train station and coast. From here towards the east, Via Arziglia runs along the ridge of a steep slope (a few hundred meters down you can see the shining sea). You can walk it (40 Minutes) to the Winter Garden and palm and mimosa plantations.
The local mild climate has long attracted newcomers. The English writer Katherine Mansfield lived in a rented villa on one of the surrounding hills, after that, how she was asked to leave her hotel in Sanremo, where her health problems disturbed other guests.
Dolceacqua
Bordighera is connected by a regular bus line with the village of DOLCEACQUA on a hill.. Excellent are produced here, probably the best in Liguria, Rossesse wine and olive oil. At the time of harvesting, you can see stacks of black olives in the village, placed on the ground before being sent for processing. The modern district of the town is connected with the old medieval one, a single-span bridge over the Nervia River. Over the old ones, The ruins of the castle that once belonged to the Doria family are piled up along stone streets. According to legend, the gentlemen of this family used their droit de seigneur (right the first night) in relation to local brides. A theater festival takes place in the castle in July and August, concerts are also held here.
On Sunday around 20 January Dolceacquua becomes the audience of a parade with an ancient one, yet a pagan tradition (associated with the cult of the goddess of fertility). As part of the procession in honor of St.. Sebastian moves through the village, carrying colorful messages, resembling a Christmas tree, laurel tree. Regular buses run from Dolceacaka to Ventimiglia.
Ventimiglia i La Mortola
VENTIMIGLIA, located 11 kilometers from the French border, is typically a border town. There are many shops around the train station, sellers of goods exempt from customs duties, and French is heard at least as often here, like Italian. The town can be quite gloomy, but on Fridays the atmosphere livens up considerably, because the entire area from Via della Repubblica to the sea is then occupied by a huge food and clothing market.
The old quarter is located across the river, where the cathedral rises among the acoustic streets and stone squares, in a typical Lombard-Romanesque style, baptistery and the 11th-century church of San Michele. Arriving here on market day, you can choose from a large number of hotels, incl. located by the sea below the old town of Lido, Via Marconi 11 (0184/351473; rooms 28000 L), and standing closer to the Villa Franca station, Republic Course 12 ( 0184/351871; Ok. 36000 L).
From the intersection of Via Martiri della Liberta and Via Cavour, several buses a day depart to La Mortola Botanical Garden (codz. 10.00-16.00) located on a slope near the border. Admission is expensive (8500 L), but it's really worth going in, especially if you have an entire afternoon at your disposal (you can bring something to eat with you). There used to be over seven thousand species here, but even though La Mortola is very neglected and three-quarters of them are no longer here, thanks to its hidden nooks, pergola-covered paths and, above all, its atmosphere, the garden still makes a great impression on visitors. A terraced slope towards the sea, a steep slope takes up space 10 hectares and is so shaped, that of the overgrown lush, the wild vegetation of the alleys and grottoes offers beautiful views. In the center there is an Islamic-style mausoleum of the garden's creator, Sir Thomasa Hanburyego.
Half an hour's walk up from the garden, in Ponte San Luigi, there is a border post. However, going down the slope, he reaches the scientifically important prehistoric object Balzi Rossi, which in fact is just an ordinary rock crevice (wt.-nd. 9.00-13.00 i 14.30-18.30; 2000 L). Close to the main road from here, running to France through another border crossing, Ponte San Ludovico.