Aurigo

Aurigo derives its name from the Latin word "apricus", meaning sunlit: standing on a ridge in the middle of the Maro Valley, at the crossroads of the ancient roads through the Lupo pass and the Colle del Pisso, the town is always exposed to the sunlight throughout the day. The territory extends from an altitude of 205 metres at the Impero River to the 1218 metres of Monte Gaudiabella.


The parish church of Sant'Andrea stands higher than the present-day town and marks the place where the earliest inhabitants settled at Aurigo, when people lived in scattered farmsteads. In the thirteenth century, the aristocrats of Ventimiglia built the castle around which the new dwellings sprang up. Twice destroyed (definitively in 1480 by the Lascaris of Tenda), it was replaced in the sixteenth century by the palace of the Ventimiglia aristocracy and then by the De Gubernatis, who restructured it in 1690. The town is dominated by the massive palace, which is still inhabited today but can be visited. The parish church of Sant'Andrea dates from the twelfth century, but the fine rough-stone bell tower was originally a watchtower connecting visibly with the towers of Colombiera, Poggialto and Costa della Caravonica: the defence system watched over the connection with the "marenca" commercial road for oil and salt traders.


The roads that lead between the farmsteads through vineyards and olive groves and can be crossed by mountain bike form a thirty-kilometre network around the town. As you walk through the terracings along the roads leading to the various municipal districts, you will come across votary poles, which were placed there to protect crops against witches and evil spirits. The sanctuary of San Paolo lies just outside the town and is a mediaeval building that underwent modifications during the eighteenth century: the interior preserves a late sixteenth-century poliptych by Giulio De Rossi (the only one in the province of Imperia).


Besides the superior-quality olive oil, local specialities include Aurigo bread and "Panzarelli", pieces of pasta dough that are leavened and fried and have various fillings. There is a green sports area with five-a-side football pitches and tennis and volleyball courts.