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SANREMO |
  
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| Today Sanremo attracts international tourism all year round. It is really pleasant to walk along the famous promenade, decorated with the palm trees donated to the town by the Czarina of Russia, Maria Alexandrovna, in memory of her stay here in 1874, kissed by the sun in the winter and spring months, or caressed by the sea breeze on hot summer days. Another sign of the many guests from Russia and Slav countries in general between the ninetheenth and the early twentieth is the Orthodox church, with its fine domes and colours. The hotels preserve the style of days past, even though they have introduced everything that modern technology can offer to make their guests' stay more comfortable. Each tourist feels he or she is the sole beneficiary of all this beauty and is perhaps tempted to repeat the words of another famous guest, Massimo D'Azeglio, who wrote in a letter to his daughter in 1853, "I stopped for a few hours at Sanremo....an enchanting place that makes one exclaim: here I am and here I mean to stay!" Sanremo's tourist image is based on certain well defined factors: its pleasant climate which has also made it a prestigious flower-growing centre, the charm of its history which has attracted many illustrious visitors over the years, and the international success of the Italian Song Festival. What Italian, young or not so young, has not dreamed or rubbing shoulders with the singer of the moment, maybe a big name in international show business, during the Festival's evening performances, or of sitting next to some member of the jet set at the roulette table in the Municipal Casino or on a yacht in the big tourist harbour of Portosole. But Sanremo also means La Pigna. This is the mediaeval district, lying right behind the luxurious streets of the town centre, which has preserved all the characteristics of the old Ligurian towns lying on the last slopes of the mountains. On the very edge of the district we can visit the Romano-gothic church of San Siro, built in the twelfth century. Wandering through the streets of La Pigna we can still appreciate the smells and sounds of everyday life. One opportunity we must not miss is to taste a slice of "sardenaira", a kind of pizza made of yeast dough, washed down with a good glass of Rossese wine from Dolceacqua. The latter is an enchanting little town in the nearby Nervia Valley, with the imposing ruins of a castle that belonged to the famous Doria family and a beautiful Romanesque bridge with daring lines.
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