VENTIMIGLIA
Where Italy Meets the French Riviera
Ventimiglia
is certainly in Italy, just 3 miles from the border with France in
Liguria where
the Italian Riviera meets the French Rivieria
on the Bay of Genoa. Ventimiglia was once the capital of a tribe who
managed to resist being conquered by Rome until finally succumbing in
115 BC from a sea bourne assault. As a frontier outpost, the city later
suffered under wars of the Byzantines, the Visigoths, the Savoys and
ultimately the Genovese. Today, this modest sized city is where the rail
lines cross the border for international trains, so one might never
have occasion to see Ventimiglia, but if visiting the Cote d’Azure in
the south of France with a France Rail Pass or Select Rail Pass with
France
but not Italy (see How
Rail Passes Work), Ventimiglia has the
advantage of being included (one has to disembark the train there and
travel back into France). If traveling on the Italian Trentalia rail
system, it is the end of the line. If you're dying to add just a bit
of Italy to a trip to Cannes, Nice or Monaco, go to Ventimiglia - especially
on a Friday for the large and very popular public street market held
by the oceanfront, when the streets are blocked off from traffic and
swell with French invaders looking for bargains.
The
area around the train station seems a little bit rundown, but walk
a block
toward the
ocean and you'll discover a quaint pretty rivieria
town of palm tree lined lanes and little hole-in-the-wall restaurants
and shops reveals itself. Ventimiglia is divided by the River wihich
flows into the bay. At high tide the little bay estuary fills with sea
water about half a foot deep along the promenade past the pebbly riviera
beach umbrellas and ocean view restaurants. Up the hill above the new
city is the old medieval city of narrow lanes and the
vestiges
of ancient walls. A little farther finds the remains of a Roman Amphihitheater
and
the Hanbury Gardens, follow the signs to “Giardini Hanbury”.
In the old town the San Michele Arcangelo Chruch was first built in the
10th century where an early Roman temple once stood, and later reconstructed
in Romanesque style. The city’s old library holds the second largest
collection of late Renaissance books and manuscripts to be found in Italy
outside of Venice. Just outside of town are the caves of Balzi Rossi
where evidence of Cro-Magnon man have been found.
By car, Ventimiglia
lies along the A10 autostrada which follows the coast of the Italian
and French Rivieras. By rail it is a 15 minute train
ride from Monaco just the other side of Mentone, and about 35 minutes
from Nice, 2 hours from Genoa or about 4 hours from Milan. © Bargain
Travel Europe
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See
Also:
VILLA
BALBI - LIGURIA BAY OF SILENCE
LAIGUEGLIA - ITALIAN RIVIERA FISHING TOWN
