Tom`s travels: Taggia (02/08/2021)

On a rather cloudy day, when Ania had to work, I decided to take a walk from Riva Ligure and visit the nearby town of Taggia, known for its old town and a type of small dark olive known as the Oliva taggiasca. After leaving the house, I headed north and following the road along the river Argenta, in less than an hour reached the town of Taggia. The first monument I came in sight of was the romanesque bridge, featuring 15 arches and 270m in length. It was rather long as it was built over a longer period as the river Argenta seemed to progressively expand the floodplain. After crossing the bridge, and noticing the sun had decided to shine for a brief period, I reached the old town proper. I passed by the Bastione del ponte, one of the last remaining traces of the medieval fortifications of the town, and then headed up past the church of Santa Caterina and the next-door Oratorio della Santissima Trinità, the former featuring a neoclassical style while the latter a baroque one. The small square in front of the two religious buildings was rather picturesque, with cobblestone paving and a nice baroque fountain surrounded by old buildings. I then followed a narrow street sided by the typical colored houses and shortly after reached the church of Nostra Signora del Canneto. Historically known as the Canneto Abbey, it is the oldest building in Taggia and its foundation dates back to the 7th century. At the end of the 9th century, the Saracens desecrated the monastery, demolished it, killed all the monks, and set fire to the precious library. It was rebuilt again at the end of the tenth century and suffered later remodeling and additions in the following centuries, especially in the twelfth century. At the time of my visit the interior was closed and through the window, I managed to see it looked rather abandoned too, with large holes in the pavement and scaffolding here and there. I still managed to admire it from the outside, especially its beautiful romanesque bell tower. After that, I headed through more of the caruggi, the narrow typical streets of Ligurian towns, and then passed by the church of Santa Teresa which was closed. I was now in the oldest part of town, built on a steeply sloping hillside and with the castle right above once defending the town from the enemies. I headed uphill through the maze of streets and eventually reached the aforementioned fortification. The main gate was closed but I managed to find a spot where I could pass through some bushes and enter the castle's courtyard. Not much of this old medieval fortification was left, with just parts of the outer walls left, as it had been abandoned and left to ruins for a long period of time. Recently, inside the courtyard, a nice small amphitheater has been constructed and must be used for special events. I decided to climb one of the surviving towers and from there have a great view of the old town below, the Argenta river valley further down, and the surrounding hilly and mountainous landscape. The clouds were now thick and dark and threatened to rain. I headed out of the castle and back down through the narrow streets of the town until I once again reached the lowest point of the city center. Here I found the church of Santi Sebastiano e Fabiano open and visited its beautiful baroque interior and admired its elegant facade. In front of the church I then followed the town's main street, Via Soleri, sided by beautiful palaces, all dating from different periods, ranging from the medieval ones with arcaded porticoes to the more elegant and pompous renaissance and baroque ones. At the end of the street, I then found another open church, the Santuario della Madonna Miracola, which featured an elegant and rich baroque facade and interior. Right next to the church I passed through another small square, Piazza Carlo Luigi Farini, sided by nice buildings and featuring a nice fountain from 1462, the Fontana del Brakì delle Confrarie. Just next to the fountain facing the square was the beautiful 18th-century Palazzo Lercari, one of the nicest in town. As I continued on I walked south and after a short while, headed out of the old town and reached the Convent of San Domenico, on a gently sloping hill just outside of town. The late gothic church and convent were built at the end of the 15th century and now feature a small museum related to religious paintings, After ringing though I was told the church and museum were closed that day and to come another time. It was then time to head on, so after walking further south reached the town of Arma di Taggia, the seaside locality of Taggia. A short walk from there along the bicycle route then brought me back to Riva Ligure where I then joined Ania for a lunch break. Here at the seaside, it was sunny again, so we decided to take a stroll and walk through Riva and the nearby town of Santo Stefano al Mare. We first strolled through the old town of Riva Ligure, facing the seaside and with the beautiful colored houses and narrow streets. We also passed by the scenic church of San Maurizio with an elegant baroque green-colored facade. In just ten minute's walk, we then reached the next small old town f Santo Stefano al Mare, which also featured the typical colored houses. Here we passed next to the church of Santo Stefano, reconstructed in modern times over a pre-existing church, and then ended the walk in the eastern end of town where the nine-sided ennagonal tower, built in 1566 by the Republic of Genova was located. From there it was then finally time to head back to our place, where Ania continued working in the afternoon and I spent the rest of the day reading a book down at the beach enjoying the sun and surf.