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ALASSIO
Certainly Alassio by the sea and born, grown and flourished because of the sea: 3 Kms of beautiful beaches with the finest, cleanest sand not found anywhere else in Italy.
Legend has it that the Emperor Otho's daughter, Adelasia, found happiness and love with Aleramo here. Historically, it was not founded by the Benedictines, the Catalans, the Saracens, nor the Spanish coral divers, but it was built up from pre-existing Ligurian centres first in the Mountain Region (St. Anne) and then at the Castè of the Madonna of the Graces. There are controversies surrounding its name: from Adelesia-Alasia, from Tirasso (Rasso-Arassi) from Arasse (a rivier in Asia Minor) from A-rasse (below) to assem (near the shipyards), and from Salacia (goddess of the sea). It was born around the year One Thousand and lived for 6 centuries off of fishing, gardening and poverty; then the shipyard industry and maritime commerce took off in the entire Mediterranean. The Alassians, like the Laiguegliese, were always among the most sought-after sailors from Genoa and Marseilles. The golden years were between 1600 and 1700, then Napoleon and his French troops destroyed the flourishing beauty of our land. We went back to the previous and hardscrabble poverty, until a group of English colonies, returning from the Far East, chose Alassio as a regular residence, for its constant, mild climate (even in winter) and for the healthfulness of the air and for the beautiful gulf. Several prestigious villas remain on the hills which surround the town and protect it from cold Northern winds. So, at the end of the 19th century, the tourist and seaside trades took off, which still compete in sunny days and even temperatures with the best locations in the south of Italy.

Il muretto: (the wall)
In the early 50's Alassio was one of the capitals of international high society: great names from filmdom and culture, shows and events all day long, Beautiful People.
The main reason for all this is the Caffè Roma, an historical locale run by the Berrino family, a real meeting point where it was essential to be a member if you belonged to the jetset and were on holiday in Alassio or on the Riviera. In front of the Caffè Roma passed dream cars, divas and starlettes, writers, painters, musicians, and spectators. But also in front of the Caffè Roma, like a heap of fertilizer in a public garden, was an anonymous little wall, so bare as to torment Mario Berrino: “So naked it was unworthy of the vivacity and sensitivity of the guests seated at their tables... I was tormented by the idea of bestowing a bit of grace and put it out of its misery with a few ornaments." And in fact in 1953, after an encounter with Ernest Hemingway, an habitué of the Caffè, the idea took shape and became reality. Mario Berrino loved to show his guests an album with the autographs of the most famous people who had been to his bar; over time, the pages grew and the dedications and autographs became such precious pearls that it seemed a shame to keep them hidden. So when it came time for Hemingway to sign, Berrino pitched his idea: copy the signature onto a coloured ceramic tile and use it to decorate this little wall: "Okay, Mario, " said the writer, "Okay, you have to do it." He had to act quickly to avoid possible bureaucratic obstacles, so at dawn, unnoticed, Mario Barrino stuck the first three tiles (made with the help of the ceramic maker Pacetti): Hemingway, the Cetra Quartet, and Cosimo di Ceglie. The next day there were no complaints. During the days following, more and more tiles appeared, as if nothing was going on. Mayor Torre and the entire city had certainly thought that something brilliant was being born, and that it was better to pretend to ignore it so as to get in the way as little as possible. And that was how it went. Today there are 550 tiles.

The monuments
There are numerous monuments: from one of the symbols of the city, the tower of Borgo Coscia, to the Santa Chiara monastery. From the parish Collegiate of Saint Ambrose (dating back to the 15th century and transformed into baroque style in the 17th century) to the Church of St. Anne (1736).
From the Church of St. Mary of the Angels to that of St. Mary of Charity (1400).From the Cappucine Church (16th century) to the oratory of Madonna of the People and St. Erasmus (1614). From the sanctuary of the Madonna of the Guard which rises up from Mount Tirasso ( 586m) and houses many ex voto, to the Church of the Madonna of the Graces (called Castè) around which settled the first families who later were the origin of the "Burgum Alaxii". Lastly, but only in order of the list here, another symbol of Alassio, the Church of the Holy Cross, erected on a rock looking over the sea.Among the destinations to visit are the famous "caruggios", also known as the "budello" (the historic centre), and the "Muretto", which has become a symbol of the city in the 50's, when Alassio was the capital of the international jetset.

The beaches and the treasures from the sea:
Even underwater it is still Alassio, with its flour-like white sand, like beaches in the tropics. The wide beach, as wide as 50m in places, very long, as long as the city itself, follows the coast to form a large gulf, protected from the deep seabed for hundreds of metres.  This is the Bay of Alassio, large and sandy with deep seabeds and no currents. At the centre of the city, a long jetty stretches out perpendicular to the coast, where the depth at the end it is only 3m, frequented by huge schools of mullets and occasional bream. Heading east, you come to the Holy Cross Cape, behind which is the tourist port of Alassio. For those who want to admire a varied and colourful underwater, these sea beds are of great interest, and they start at the punta Marina where there is a series of cliffs which follow the coast up to the border with Albenga. Here too just a few meters deep you can see various types of fish and shellfish, winkles, mollusks and bivalves. There are vari-coloured damselfish, intensely coloured gamefish, scorpionfish hiding amongst the rocks, and the ever-shy octopus and squid. But it's easy to come across sharpsnout and royal bream, especially after the tides, as it's easy to find bream. Swimming towards open sea, the sand is interrupted by majestic fields of sea grass, among which are celano sparli, green gamefish and a few jet-blacks. Often the sea grasses are literally surrounded by schools of "zerli" and "ciuccole" two locally named fish. You can find various kinds of shells on the beach, especially murigi shells. Once you get to Cape Lena, low and bowl-like because of the detritus carried here by the river Centa, the seabed is no longer interesting from a diver's point of view, except for occasional mountain winds that clear the waters. In this case it's easy to come across a big bass attracted to the fishy waters. At Gallinara island, there are only the water's surfaces to admire because of the prohibition of bathing and diving. About 500 metres to the east of the island there is a wonderful wreck, the Umberto I, a merchant ship settled onto the sands about 50m deep. Last, right in front of Albenga there is one of the most interesting archeological zones in Italy.  The area, located at 44° 03N-8° 15E, about ten years or so ago, the remains of a roman ship carrying thousands of amphora was discovered; for this reason, the area for a radius of about 300m has been off limits to fishing, anchorage and of course diving.