Ventimiglia

The medieval town grew up from the 8th century onwards, when the inhabitants left the Roman town on the plain and moved to the hill across the Roia, which was easier to defend. It remained the heart of town life until the 19th century, when the arrival of the railway shifted development down the hill. Today it is one of the oldest historic centres in Liguria, still lived in and largely untouched by tourism.

You walk up from the river along narrow lanes, stepped streets and covered passageways. The main street is via Garibaldi, lined with noble palazzi with stone doorways, oratories such as the Oratorio dei Neri, and the 16th-century Casa Biancheri. The old town is also home to the Murru de Bö, a small photography museum. From the highest points you can see the coast all the way to France.

The Romanesque cathedral of the Assunta, built between the 11th and 12th centuries, is the main monument of Ventimiglia Alta. It has a plain stone façade with a fine doorway and an intimate interior. Next to it stands the octagonal baptistery dedicated to St John the Baptist, which still has the ancient font for baptism by immersion.

The church of San Michele was built in the 10th century on the orders of the Counts of Ventimiglia. Collapses and rebuilding have changed its appearance, but the interior still has a medieval atmosphere and preserves reused Roman elements, a sign of the link between the ancient town and the medieval one.

Porta Canarda is a 13th-century fortified gate with Gothic arches, one of the old entrances to the walled town. It is one of the most photographed spots in Ventimiglia, especially in the evening when it is lit up.

The Biblioteca Aprosiana was founded in 1648 by Father Angelico Aprosio, an Augustinian friar born in Ventimiglia, and is considered the first public library in Liguria. In 1653 Pope Innocent X recognised its importance. The historic collection, with valuable 17th-century texts, is at via Garibaldi 10, a minute from Porta Nuova. It can only be visited on certain days of the week: check the opening times on the town council’s tourism website.

The fortress on the rocks, dating from the Genoese and Napoleonic periods, stands by the sea on the edge of the old town. Inside is the MAR, the Civic Archaeological Museum named after Girolamo Rossi, the historian who studied the Roman town. Its rooms display finds from the Intemelian area and from the Roman town. Check the opening times on the museum’s website before you go.

On the Nervia plain, east of the centre, you can visit the remains of Albintimilium, the main town of the Intemelian Ligurians, which grew in Roman times above all after the via Julia Augusta opened in 13 BC. The archaeological area includes the theatre from the late 2nd century AD, the baths, a domus and the Antiquarium. The theatre still hosts shows and events today.

The area is open Tuesday to Sunday from 9.30am to 2.30pm and closed on Mondays. A full ticket costs 5 euros and a reduced one 2 euros, with no need to book. It only opens in the morning, so plan to arrive early.

The covered market, near the station, opened in 1922 as a flower market, the first building of its kind in Italy. Today it is open Monday to Saturday and sells fruit, vegetables, fish, meat, cheese, bread and local produce: it is the right place to try pisciadela or buy castagnole.

Every Friday morning, all year round, the seafront and the riverbanks fill with stalls for one of the largest open-air markets in Europe, hugely popular with the French. Times, areas, tips and what to buy are in the Ventimiglia market guide.

On the Mortola headland, about 6 kilometres from the centre, the Hanbury Gardens cover 18 hectares of terraces above the sea with around 5,800 plant species. They were created from 1867 by the English merchant Thomas Hanbury together with his brother Daniel, a botanist. After war damage they were sold to the State in 1960; since 1987 they have been run by the University of Genoa and since 2000 they have been a regional protected area.

They are open all year, with opening times that vary by season; from November to February they are closed on Mondays. A full ticket costs 10 euros. You can get there by car along the Aurelia towards France or on the line 1 bus from Ventimiglia, which only runs on weekdays.

Right by the Ponte San Ludovico border crossing, in the village of Grimaldi, the reddish cliffs of the Balzi Rossi hide one of the most important prehistoric sites in Europe. Stone tools and animal remains dating from between 230,000 and 12,000 years ago have been found in the caves, along with Palaeolithic burials. The museum, founded by Thomas Hanbury and opened in 1898, displays the famous triple burial, copies of the “Venuses” and a reconstruction of the face of the Dama del Caviglione.

The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 8.30am to 7.30pm; tickets cost 4 euros and entry is free for under-18s. At the foot of the cliff there are rocks and a small pebble beach where you can swim.

At the mouth of the Nervia stream, between Ventimiglia and Camporosso, there is a small protected wetland where more than 200 bird species have been recorded, from herons and ducks to migratory birds. Entry is free and its small size lets you see the birds up close. It makes an easy stop if you are visiting the archaeological area, which is nearby.