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There is no better place to view the panorama of San Remo than from the sea as the city lies in a natural bay bordered by Capo Nero and Capo Verde. The antique heart of San Remo is Pigna. Established around the year 1000 and still mostly intact today, San Remo’s heart clings to the side of the mountain with its many alleyways and steep streets, all the time being watched over by the Madonna della Costa.


If you follow your gaze along the coast, you come to the modern part of San Remo, which was first founded around the turn of the century with the boom in tourism. Back then the face of San Remo was the “Bella Epoque”, but nowadays the face includes the famous elegant palace and all the villas with their beautiful gardens and parks, whose vegetation is dense and rich. Renovations have kept the buildings and streets in great conditions.



The wonderfully mild climate has pulled the richest and most vip tourists to San Remo for years. The mountains nestled behind San Remo, of which the highest is Monte Bignone at 1300 meters above sea level, protect San Remo from the cool north winds and thus help to make San Remo’s climate what it is.



There is no shortage of attractions in San Remo. All year around the climate allows for use of the many well equipped sports facilities as well as the well-known golf course and equestrian center. There is also no shortage of harbors, as the yachts are prominent in the two, Porto Vecchio and the modern Portosole.



Fans of shopping will be right at home. There is one boutique after the other in the city center and Tuesdays and Saturdays are the obligatory market days. The weekly market is only a few steps away from the San Siro Cathedral on the Piazza Eroi Sanremesi. And of course one of the main attractions here is the world renowned Casino.



The events calender is full to the brim. Movie festivals, concerts, fashion shows and gala evenings a plenty. For the sports fans we have sailing regattas, canoe tournaments, car, bike and motorboat races of an international caliber, boxing and tennis matches as well as golf and table tennis tournaments. For the intellectual there are author readings, art shows and “literary Tuesdays”



Last, but not least – the music. The festival of the Chansons, the Tenco Prize, the San Remo Jazz festival, the San Remo Blues festival and the world famous Festival della canzone italiana, which was held for the first time on the 29th of January 1951. The festival has been held in the modern Theater Ariston since 1977.



And what would San Remo be without its flowers. Due to its mild climate there are many plants that thrive in this environment, which is why San Remo is known for its beautiful gardens and parks.


The San Remo area was inhabited in the Palaeolithic era, in the Iron Age and in Roman times (see Villa Matruciana near the cathedral). However, during mediaeval times the population fled to the high country and built a walled town to defend themselves from Saracen invaders.


The town passed from the dominion of the Ventimiglia nobility to that of the bishops of Genoa and later to the Doria and De Mari families in 1297. From the second half of the fourteenth century, it became an independent municipality and expanded inland as far as the slopes of Monte Pigna and San Siro.


The old town area has a rich mediaeval heritage. The town's vocation for élite tourism dates back to the nineteenth century, with the construction of the first large hotels and the expansion of the town along the coast.
The modified cathedral of San Siro originally dates back to the thirteenth century: the original parts that remain are the central rosace and part of the lateral mullioned windows. The interior preserves a Crucifix by Maragliano and a canvas by Pancalino showing San Siro and other saints (1548). Nearby is the oratory of the Immacolata Concezione (sixteenth century), with frescoes by Merano, and the baptistery, which was built on former Roman foundations and those of an earlier church: it holds a painting by Orazio De Ferrari. The church of Santo Stefano was rebuilt by the Jesuits in the middle of the seventeenth century and preserves a painting by Piola and frescoes by Merano.


The single-nave sanctuary of the Madonna della Costa goes back to the seventeenth century: here you can admire frescoes by Giacomo Antonio Boni and a painting from the Barnaba da Modena school (late fourteenth century) as well as a painting by Domenico Fiasella.


Palazzo Borea d'Olmo is an impressive Baroque building that was partly rebuilt in the eighteenth century: it houses the Archaeology Museum (prehistoric and Roman exhibits). The late nineteenth-century buildings are also of great charm: among the most interesting are Villa Ormond, with its surrounding parkland, and Villa Alfred Nobel, the residence of the famous scientist.

The orthodox church of San Basilio dates from the twentieth century. Also dating from this century are the Municipal Casino, an art nouveau building designed by Eugenio Ferret, and Portosole, the new leisure port (800 boats), which also has a sports complex. Among the famous people who have stayed at Sanremo was Maria Alexandrovna, Empress of Russia: the seafront promenade bears her name.

The prestigious Song Festival and the vocation for floriculture have helped to increase the international reputation of Sanremo.

Washing machine for common use
The motorway is 500 m away.
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