Page 241 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Italy

LIGURIA І 239

surrounding houses to ruins.
(One survivor, Giovanni Torre del
Merlo, went on to invent the
ice­cream cone.)
The town was rebuilt closer
to the sea and since then
the original village has been
taken over by artists, who
have restored some interiors,
providing a venue for summer
concerts and exhibitions.

6 Cervo Spectacular rock formations in the grottoes of Toirano
Imperia. * 1,200. V @ n Piazza 7 Albenga R Baptistry
Santa Caterina 2 (0183 40 81 97). Piazza San Michele. Tel 0182 502 88.
( Thu. ∑ cervo.com Savona. * 24,000. V @ n Piazza Open 9:30am–12:30pm & 3:30–
del Popolo 11 (0182 55 84 44). ( 6:30pm (Oct–Apr: 3–6pm) Tue–Sat
Cervo is the prettiest of the Wed. ∑ turismoinliguria.it
many old seafront villages just (Oct–Apr: 5pm Tue), 10am–12:30pm &
3:30–6pm Sun (Oct–Apr: groups only
east of Imperia, with a narrow Until the Middle Ages, the Sun). Closed 1 Jan, Easter, 25 Dec. &
complex of streets and houses Roman port of Albium
rising dramatically up from the Ingaunum played an important E Museo Navale Romano
shingle beach. At the top of the maritime role. The sea, however, Pza San Michele 12. Tel 0182 512 15.
village stands the concave gradually moved further out, Open 9:30am–12:30pm, 3:30–7:30pm
Baroque façade of San leaving the town, now called (Oct–Apr: from 10am, 2:30–6pm) Tue–
Giovanni Battista. Albenga, stranded on Sun. Closed 1 Jan, Easter, 25 Dec. &
Charming chamber the Centa River.
orchestra perform­ Most striking now is
ances are held in its Romanesque 8 Grotte di Toirano
front of the church in brick architecture, in
July and August. The particular the three Via alle Grotte, Toirano. Tel 0182 980 62.
church is also known 13th­century towers @ from Albenga to Borghetto Santo
as the “dei corallini”, clustered around the Spirito. V to Borghetto Santo Spirito
after the coral fishing cathedral of San or Loano. Open 9:30am–12:30pm, 2–
which once brought Michele. The 5pm daily. Closed 25 Dec–1 Jan.
8 (book ahead). ∑ toiranogrotte.it
prosperity to the The 5th-century cathedral’s interior
local people. Baptistry at Albenga was restored to its Beneath the delightful medieval
Now Cervo is an medieval form in town of Toirano lies a series of
unassuming but characteristic the late 1960s. To the south caves containing relics of
Ligurian holiday resort, with is an intriguing 5th­century Paleolithic life dating from
un spoiled hotels near the beach. Baptistry with a ten­sided 100,000 years ago.
exterior and octagonal The Grotta della Basura
interior. Inside, the (Witch’s Cave) has remarkable
original 5th­century blue­ prehistoric human and animal
and­white mosaics of footprints, and a collection of
doves represent the 12 ancient bear bones and teeth
Apostles. To the north of in the “bear cemetery”.
the cathedral is the small The Grotta di Santa Lucia
Piazza dei Leoni, named reveals the full beauty of the
after its three stone lions yellow and grey stalactites and
imported from Rome. stalagmites formed here over
In a 14th­century palace hundreds of thousands of years.
on Piazza San Michele is The Museo Etnografico della
the Museo Navale Val Varatella, housed in the 16th­
Romano, founded in century stables of the Palazzo del
1950 following the Marchese, has a collection of agri­
salvage of a Roman ship cultural and domestic tools from
that had sunk in the 1st the 17th to the early 20th century.
century BC. The museum
contains ancient E Museo Etnografico della
amphorae as well as Val Varatella
exhibits salvaged from Via G Polla, Toirano. Tel 0182 98 99 68.
San Giovanni Battista at Cervo more recent shipwrecks. Open 10am–1pm, 3–8pm daily. &

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