Lying at the meeting point of three rivers among the maquis-covered hills, "Insula Bona" began to develop as a town in the thirteenth century, when the Doria family built the castle to guard the road to Apricale. Originally made of sandstone and built in a hexagonal shape, all that now remains of the manor house are a quadrangular tower and the walls with the arched portal: this is a splendid setting for the open-air theatre events that take place every summer. This town of rare beauty stands elegantly amidst the rivers.
The octagonal stone fountain in the smallest square dates from 1486. In another square, next to the Baroque buildings of Santa Maria Maddalena and the oratory of Santa Croce, there is a loggia with a Roman column: this was the ancient market place. The sanctuary of Nostra Signora delle Grazie dates from the late Middle Ages: worth seeing are the frescoes by Giovanni Cambiaso and the seventeenth-century portico. Situated inside the cemetery is the small Romanesque church of San Giovanni Battista, perhaps the first church in Isolabona, which preserves a fifteenth-century fresco.
"Cubäite" are a local sweet speciality: they are made of thin wafers filled with honey, hazel nuts and grated lemon. The savoury pies are also delicious, as is the stockfish that is prepared in three different ways.
Castello dell'Argeléu is a castle built in the thirteenth century by the Ventimiglia aristocracy, probably on the site of a Roman fortress. It dominates the road leading to the Gòuta Gorge (1213 m.), which stands at the centre of a network of paths on the border with France.
There are a great number of green play areas for children as well as facilities for basketball, volleyball and skating. Elastic ball and canoeing are also practised here.
Bandiera Blu
