6½ m. E. from Menton by the carriage-road, passing the village of Mortola, and traversing the Piano di Latte, is
MENTON
GENOA 6¾ 93¾ [VENTIMIGLIA], pop. 8500, on a hill at the mouth of the Roja. Inns: near station, the Hôtel Suisse; in the low town, the Hôtel Tornaghi. All the trains halt here ¾ of an hour, and luggage entering France or Italy is examined. The new station is commodious. At one end of the luggage-room is a clock with Paris time, and at the other one with the time of Rome, 47 minutes in advance of Paris. The waiting-rooms, “Sale d’Aspetto,” cloak-rooms, “Camerini di Toeletta,” and the refreshment rooms are all at the French end, as well as the way out to the train. The town is well seen from the station. The church occupies a prominent position; and close to it, in the Via Lascaris, are the post office, theatre, and the best café. The walk up this same Via to the town-gate shows the best part of the town, while the avenues in continuation beyond it lead up to the best sites for views. Not far from the station, on the right bank of the Nervia, on a large sandbank, are the remains of a theatre and of a cemetery, which probably mark the site of the ancient Albintemelium. What remains of the theatre is composed of large blocks of greenstone from the quarries of Mortola. The excavations have been carried on under the direction of the inspector of historic monuments in the province. Omnibus between Ventimiglia and Bordighera. Diligence once daily between Ventimiglia and [Tenda], p. 183.
Bordighera.
MENTON
GENOA 10 90½ [BORDIGHERA], pop. 2800. The old town, the Bordighera di sopra, is compactly built on the summit of the eminence rising from the cape S. Ampeglio, whose sides are covered with olives and palms. Down below, on almost a level with the sea, is the low or new town, where most of the invalids reside, though it is doubtful if the site is well chosen. Hotels: the best is the ¹*H. Angleterre, a first-class house in a garden, near the station. Similarly situated is the
¹H. Bordighera. Both charge from 10 to 20 frs. Behind the Angleterre is the Episcopal chapel. West from the Angleterre is ²*Beau Rivage, 6 to 10 frs. Immediately opposite station are ²H. and P. Continental, 9 to 11 frs.; the ²H. and P. Sapia, 8 to 9 frs., and the Bordighera bank, where money can be changed. Eastward are the hotels ²Victoria and ²Windsor. Admirably situated on an eminence overlooking the Moreno palm-garden is the ¹*H. and P. Belvédère, 8 to 12 frs. Near it is the ²*Pension Anglaise, 6 to 9 frs. At the commencement of the Vallecrosia valley is a Home with industrial school for orphans of poor Italian Protestants, founded by an English lady. Omnibus between Bordighera and San Remo, passing through Ospedaletti, a beautiful drive. Also omnibus every half-hour between Bordighera and Ventimiglia. It passes through the low town of Ventimiglia and stops at the commencement of the ascent to the high town.
The great feature of Bordighera are its plantations of palms, whose tufted tops wave above the more lowly lemon trees laden with pale yellow fruit, while the whole of the background is crowded with vigorous olive trees. Some of the palms are 800 years old. The lemon, after the olive, is the most profitable tree.
To the Tower of Mostaccini, 1½ hr. there and back, by the Strada Romana, till near Pozzoforte, where ascend by path right hand. This tower, of Roman origin, and still in excellent preservation, served as an “avisium” or watch-tower in the Middle Ages. From it is obtained a delightful view of part of the coast.
Isola Buona.
2½ m. west from Bordighera is the commencement of the [valley of the Nervia], 16 m. long from north to south, with a varying breadth of 1½ to 2½ m. A good carriage-road extends all the way up to Pigna, 11 m. from Bordighera. On this road, 1½ m. up the Nervia, or nearly 4 m. from Bordighera, is Campo-Rosso, on the Nervia, at its junction with the Cantarena, pop. about 250. It possesses two churches, both 12th cent. St. Pierre has frescoes, 15th cent., on principal entrance and on the sacristy, also some pictures attributed to Brea of Nice. The confessionals are in the gallery. From Campo-Rosso a bridle-path leads up to the top of the hill, on which is the chapel of Santa Croce, commanding an extensive view. About 2 m. farther up the valley is Dolce-Acqua, on both sides of the Nervia, crossed here by a stone bridge with a span of 108 ft. Over the village, consisting of houses crowded together and piled above each other, rises the imposing feudal castle of the Dorias, reduced to its present dilapidated condition by the Genoese in 1672. 2¼ m. from Dolce-Acqua, or 8½ m. from Bordighera, is [Isola Buona], pop. 1200, with paper and olive mills, heath pipe manufactories, and cold sulphurous springs. From Isola, a little way up the Merdanio or Merdunzo, is Apricale, pop. 1000. South from Apricale is Perinaldo, the birthplace, 8th June 1625, of Giovanni Domenico Cassini, the most famous of a family distinguished as astronomers, who succeeded one another as directors of the observatory at Paris for four generations.
Pigna.