Sanremo, not just a song festival
Flower Riviera
There’s more to Sanremo than the Sanremo Music Festival! Here are some suggestions for exploring the city while the song contest is on (or for getting away from the hustle and bustle of the VIPS and celebs) If you happen to be in Sanremo during the Song Festival, you will discover the charm of this town known as the “city of flowers, smiles and songs”. But if it’s quiet you’re after, if you want to escape from the madding crowd, here then are a few tips.
The stages
La PignaThe city’s parks
The Russian Church and the Casino
The Cycle Track
La Sardenaira
Bussana Vecchia
La Pigna
La Pigna, the historical centre of Sanremo, is very close to the Ariston Theatre (where the Music Festival is held every year), but couldn’t be further away from the notes, sequins and pomp of the contest. Once through Porta di Santo Stefano, the real border between the old and new town, you will find yourself at Rivolte di San Sebastiano and in a middle world reminiscent of a JeanClaude Izzo novel. Here, vaults, alleyways and old medieval houses lead to Piazzetta dei Dolori, home to an ancient brotherhood.
It is in La Pigna, rather than down the long pedestrian street that leads to the Ariston theatre, that you will find yourself in the pages of “The Path to the Nest of Spiders”. Indeed, it was here, in the old Sanremo, that Italo Calvino set his first novel (click here for a tour of the writer’s locations in Sanremo). It is not hard to imagine Pin, the main protagonist, moving quickly through the narrow streets and hiding in some half-open doorway from which wafts the scent of lavender or cunigiu alla ligure (rabbit stew). Climb all the way to the top of the hill to Giardini Regina Elena and the beautiful Madonna della Costa, with its breathtaking views of the city and harbour.
The city’s parks
There must be a reason why Sanremo is famously referred to as ‘the city of flowers’. In the second half of the 19th century there flourished here an intense floriculture production which was soon to condition the city’s activities and landscape. This was due to Sanremo’s mild climate, combined with the presence of scholars (such as the talented botanist Mario Calvino, father of the famous writer Italo Calvino) and enlightened entrepreneurs keen on experimenting with new markets. This affected the city’s architectural landscape too: Sanremo was indeed a city in bloom, and there are many city parks where you can still find the atmosphere of its origins. The park on Corso Imperatrice is the oldest in the city and is inextricably linked to the Tsarina Maria Alexandrova, Empress of Russia. It was she who, struck by the beauty of Sanremo, gifted the city and West Liguria with the palm trees that shade the promenade. Also located here is the famous Statue of Spring! Parco Marsaglia is what remains of a lush, well-planned garden, boasting large spaces and perspectives, reminiscent of an oriental forest: it is still rich in rare exotic plants such as Yubea chilensis and Oreopanax, to name but a few. Visiting Parco del Bellevue is like going back in time, to when wealthy northern Europeans would come to what used to be a large hotel to enjoy the benefits of heliotherapy, the therapeutic use of natural sunlight. Worthy of note are the superb specimens of Araucaria Bidwilli. The park at Villa Zirio, too, boasts extraordinary plants, notably the Ficus macrophylla and Jacaranda mimosifolia, which turns blue in May. But the most exciting is certainly the park at Villa Ormond, with its palm grove, cedar area, ancient olive grove, ficus trees, Italian garden and Japanese garden. Today it houses the Floriseum, the Flower Museum of Sanremo.
The Russian Church and the Casino
Though close to one another – a mere dozen of metres separates them – the Russian Orthodox Church and the Casino, both built in the early 1900s during Sanremo’s golden age, couldn’t be further apart architecturally speaking. In the late 19th century, Sanremo became the favourite destination for many Russian noble families who would winter in the Riviera attracted by its mild climate. The Tsarina Maria Alexandrovna, wife of Tsar Alexander II, sojourned here in the winter between 1874 and 1875, and quickly fell in love with the city. The Orthodox church was built in 1913 on a project by architect Aleksej Viktorovic Scusev, an expert in Russian religious architecture who, in 1930, would design Lenin’s mausoleum in Moscow. The church’s five gilded cupolas shimmer in the light of the setting sun, while the Byzantine-styled Russian crosses play with the surrounding palm trees and flowers, creating the atmosphere of A Thousand and One Nights.
The Casino was inaugurated in 1905 and has been one of the main symbols of the city for over a century. Famous for its shows, it hosted the first edition of the Sanremo Music Festival. It has only recently celebrated its 120th anniversary.
The Cycle Track
Its name is almost as long as the distance it covers between Imperia and Ospedaletti: Pista ciclabile del Parco Costiero della Riviera dei Fiori. A good 28 km of sea, sun and outdoors sports developed on what was once an old railway line (and a new portion is now being built between Imperia and Andora). The track passes through the heart of Sanremo, along Lungomare Imperatrice, past the Casino, just a stone’s throw from the Ariston Theatre and the harbour, and almost cuts through the sitting room in Villa Nobel. Useful to move quickly in the city, to avoid traffic or to reach the beaches – Tre Ponti, Morgana, Imperatrice, to name but a few – with ease. Suitable for cycling, walking or running among the flowers and scents of a spring that seems eternal.
La Sardenaira
It might look like a ‘pizza’, but don’t you dare call it that! Sardenaira, the typical focaccia from Sanremo and far western Liguria, is the national dish around here. Prepared with very few ingredients, it is a true and unattainable exaltation of the taste buds. It was born in the 1500s, but its origins go back even further back. In it, flavours of the earth, such as spices and Taggiasca olive oil, blend with anchovies for an unexpected hint of the sea. There are plenty of bars in Sanremo which visitors can retreat to, to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and treat themselves to a nice slice of sardenaira with a glass of white bubbly. That’s how it’s done around here!
Bussana Vecchia
A place that smells of utopia, creativity and freedom: Bussana vecchia is an ancient village, a few kilometres east of Sanremo, which was destroyed by a devastating earthquake in 1887, subsequently abandoned, and finally given a new lease of life when a group of artists decided to settle there in the 50’s and 60’s. The bell tower of the Church of Sant’Egidio miraculously survived the earthquake and stands as a reminder of that dreadful event. Everything, from the old stones of the village to the artists’ studios and ateliers, gives the impression of being in an open-air workshop. Bussana Vecchia is like a phoenix – a romantic jewel nestled between the green of the woods and the blue of the Ligurian sea; the perfect place for falling in love or for escaping the wear and tear of modern life.
