TOThe entrance to Val Nervia, almost on the French border in western Liguria, Dolceacqua is a treasure chest of beauty. «The place is superb, there is a bridge that is a jewel of lightness». So he wrote in 1883 Claude Monet, before paint the masterpieces that portrayed the village, during a long stay.
the small village of Apricale in the hinterland of Bordighera, in Liguria. (Contrast)
Here the stories of the Dorias, the powerful lords of Genoa, and their thirteenth-century castle. The males of the Ligurian lineage exercised the odious ius primae noctis (“Right of the first night”) until the fourteenth century, when it was abolished following the death of a young bride who had refused to submit to the wishes of the Marquis Doria. At the time the women of Val Nervia, in a feminist rush, took to the streets shouting: “Omi, au a michetta a damu a chi vuremu nui“, That is:” Men, now we give it to whomever we want. ” The “michetta” of this story has symbolically become a sweet bread scented with orange blossom: you can buy it in bars and at the grocery store Francesca, who has been making it since 1935 with the same recipe of three generations of women.
The delights of the Ligurian hinterland
Here the Liguria of crowded beaches is a memory, e a short detour leads to Apricale, a medieval village which has been an artists’ colony since the “fabulous” 1960s. The Castle of the Lizard (naturally inhabited by a ghost, by the Countess Bellomo) now home to exhibitions. Gastronomic symbol and pride of every family are the pansarole, pancakes to eat with eggnog, already praised by the English writer William Scott in a guide to the Riviera of the early 1900s. A second branch of the Val Nervia leads to Pigna, known for its sulphurous water but also for its beans (Slow Food Presidium) small, white and with a very thin integument; also the great chef Alain Ducasse dedicated an entire chapter of a book to them. They are bought in the square, at the shop Liguria to taste.
The temple of the Druids in Liguria
On another peak of the valley there is Perinaldo, birthplace of the astronomer who discovered the rings of Saturn, Giandomenico Cassini; but the village must also thank the soldiers of Napoleon who passed here and bequeathed a crunchy and bitter artichoke, now a Slow Food presidium; it is located in the workshop of the former mayor Francesco Guglielmi. At the top of the valley, the village of Bajardo is an eagle’s nest on a peak at 900 meters and between the uncovered walls of the church of San Nicolò, the meeting between ancient Ligurians and Celts took place, which it turns into legend. In fact, it seems that the church was built in the thirteenth century on the remains of a pagan temple dedicated to the god Abelio, where it is said that the Druids, the Celtic priests, made human sacrifices. On the grassy square behind the light and the ancient columns, engraved with the Celtic cross, create an extraordinary charm. There are those who argue that the charge of energy here drives compasses crazy.
The walls of the church of San Nicolò di Bajardo. (Getty Images)
At the origins of Taggiasca olives
The road continues going up the parallel Argentina River Valleywhere the Intemeli – the oldest known Italic population – inhabited a thousand years before Christ. Culture and food are inextricably linked by history in the medieval village of Badalucco, where in the 13th century the Benedictines brought from Monte Cassino the olive then called Taggiascaand they taught how to cultivate it by terracing the mountain. The civilization of oil relives in the house-museum-shop of Giobatta Panizzi, whose family since 1650 owns the oil mill moved by the water of the river, near the medieval humpback bridge. A little further on you meet Montaltoa village suspended in the air and in time, so sloping that waste removal is still done by donkey. Its alleys reveal ancient legends: hosted two lovers fleeing the ius primae noctis.
Realdo in Liguria, is located on the border with the French Roya. (Getty Images)
From there you get to the smallest town in the whole Argentina Valley: Glori, a tiny hamlet of 20 souls and a churchwhere Massimo Ausenda produces on his farm intensely flavored vegetables and oil; under the pergola it is worth eating the strepe cacialà, the open ravioli with pesto, potatoes and green beans, the green rice and cabbage cake, the barbagiuà, fried ravioli with pumpkin and rice. Some recipes, found out of passion by his wife, are by Libereso Guglielmi, a well-known botanist who was also Italo Calvino’s gardener.
THEn media Valle, in Molini di Triorathe Pane di Oz shop produces the carpasina, the pan d’ordiu (barley) of the shepherds: it is eaten dipped in water and vinegar with condijun – oil, tomato, basil and bruzzu, a sour ricotta made with brigasca sheep’s milk, Slow Food presidium. Everywhere one discovers the linguistic and cultural mix of a borderland where Occitanthe ancient Provençal language of the Maritime Alps here called “brigasc”, is taught at school in two villages in the upper valley, Realdo and Verdeggia, perched on the rock.
Liguria: The Ponte Vecchio of Dolceacqua with the humpback span of 33 meters. (Contrast)
An undivided world
I’m also borderline the Brigasche sheep with a snub-nosed face that meet on the high pastures: “brigasche” derives from La Brigue, a French town located in the nearby Roya valley. In this ancient world the lands remained undivided between Italy and France after the Second World War and due to a historical anomaly the jurisdiction is French, but the usufruct (pasture, mushrooms, timber) is Italian. So much so that it is an Italian who guards the sheep: Nevio Balbis, breeder who prepares tome scented with wild herbs. A few more kilometers and you reach Triora, in the Middle Ages under the Republic of Genoa. Its stone alleys lead to the Cabotina, the area overlooking the abyss from which witches are said to have taken flight. The bagiué were women who used natural medicine, in a mixture of popular religion and ancestral knowledge; but the famine that struck the village in 1587 required a scapegoat, and this caused one of the most ferocious witch trials in Italy. Today La Strega di Triora is the gastronomy of Augusto Borelli, who ai mountain cheeses combines fruit and vegetable preserves artisanal and cubaita, a Christmas cake made with honey, almonds and dried figs. Do not miss the large fragrant loaves of Triora bread (Slow Food presidium)of the oven of the Asplanato family.
The vault of the church of S. Maria degli Angeli in Apricale. (Contrast)
Where to sleep
Spread hotel Munta and Cara
The accommodations in the houses of the medieval village are all suggestive, but the “deu bumabaixu” suite, with the alcove on the transparent floor, is spectacular. Double room in B&B 100 €. muntaecara.it
Agriturismo L’Adagio In Badalucco
Take the time for wellness in the stone pools with water lilies fed by the water of the stream. Double room in B&B from 90 €. agriturismoladagio.it
Where to eat
Delio restaurant
In Apricale it is famous for ravioli with wild herbs and bugie with zabaglione. restauranteapricale.it
Osteria Au Casun
In Bajardo, with a spectacular view of the mountains: you can eat excellent Ligurian cuisine and drink very well. Tel: 3492889808
Osteria Cian de Bià
In Badalucco, for the frandura (potato pie), cod in brandacujun style, rabbit in Ligurian style. ciandebia.it
What to buy
Food Francesca
Here for the Dolceacqua michetta. Tel 0184 206044
“Il Artciofo” Farm
For sale the biodynamic Perinaldo artichoke in oil. artciofoperinaldo.altervista.org
Liguria to taste
In the center of Pigna, white beans and other delicacies of the area. liguriadagustare.com
Roi oil
Among the best from Taggiasca olives from a great tradition. olioroi.com
Frantoio Panizzi
Ligurian oil and a themed museum in an ancient water mill.
Agriturismo Gli Ausenda
For vegetables, preserves and oil, but also for a bite to eat. gliausenda.it
Oz Bread Oven
Molini bread and carpasina are bought. panedioz.com
The Witch of Triora
Preserves, brigasca sheep cheeses, wines, mushrooms. lastregaditriora.it
Asplanato Bakery
The only remaining producer of the famous Triora bread. paneditriora.it
INFO: agencyinliguria.com
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