Camporosso

Camporosso is a rural town in the Nervia Valley that was already known in Roman times for its red oleander bushes and the colour of the earth, which is probably where its name comes from ("rosso" = red). Some ruined castle sites dating from the seventh and sixth centuries BC have been discovered on the surrounding mountains. It once belonged to Ventimiglia but broke free at the end of the seventeenth century to form part of the "Magnificent Community of the Eight Localities". Following the fall of the Republic of Genoa and the arrival of Napoleon it obtained independence.

The original nucleus was founded around the Romanesque church of San Pietro, where today's cemetery is located. The building has a bell tower and apse dating from the eleventh century and frescoes from the fifteenth and seventeenth century.

In the parish church of San Marco Evangelista you can admire the sixteenth-century ancona by Stefano Andrechi, one of the most important works of its kind in Liguria. The oratories of the two confraternities of the Black brotherhood (seventeenth century), with the triangular bell tower, and the White brotherhood (sixteenth century), with the two clocks on its façade, are also interesting to visit. The library once belonged to the Doria family and contains books dating from the fifteenth and seventeenth century. In the municipal territory you will find some very old presses and mills (the Beudo press dates from 1640): there is also a special itinerary dedicated to this aspect of rural culture. The Ligurian Alta Via begins not far from Camporosso and this is where you can also find the Val Nervia nature reserve, one of the most populous in Liguria.

During the feast of the patron saint, San Sebastiano, a laurel tree decorated with coloured holy-wafers is carried in a procession and is a remnant of an ancient pagan ritual. The town was the birthplace of San Francesco Maria, to whom a local festival is dedicated every September. One local food speciality is called "barbagiuai": this is ravioli pasta with fried marrow and is best accompanied by Rossese and Vermentino superior wine.