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ALBENGA |
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Beyond Alassio the terrain grows more mountainous, and the rail line
and road stick close to the sea for the 8km journey to the small market
town of ALBENGA . With silting up of the river estuary, Albenga long ago
lost its port and merits a visit these days to explore its pleasingly
business-like old quarter, still within medieval walls. The train
station is 800m east of the old town via the twin parallel boulevards of
Viale dei Mille and Viale Martiri della Libertà; the latter leads to the
tourist office at no. 1 (Mon-Sat 9am-12.30pm & 3-7pm, Sun 9am-12.30pm;
tel 0182.558.444, www.italianriviera.com ), and on to Piazza San Michele
at the heart of the old town. This small square is dominated by the
elegant cathedral , the main part of which was built in the eleventh
century and enlarged in the early fourteenth. Diagonally opposite in the
Torre Comunale is the Museo Civico Ingauno (Tues-Sun 10am-noon & 3-6pm;
L3000/¬1.55), displaying interesting ancient artefacts and providing
access to Albenga's big draw, the Baptistry . This ingenious building
went up alongside the cathedral in the fifth century, and combines an
unusual ten-sided exterior with a more orthodox octagonal interior.
Inside are fragmentary mosaics showing the Apostles represented by
twelve doves.
Behind the baptistry to the north, the archbishop's palace houses the
diverting Museo Diocesano (Tues-Sun 10am-noon & 3-6pm; donations).
Taking pride of place are the remains of the fifteenth-century frescoes
that adorned what used to be a chapel and the bishop's own bedchamber (the
latter decorated by Provençal artists with a mixture of sombre and
bright flower patterns to represent night and day). A few metres west,
where Via Medaglie d'Oro crosses Via Ricci, is the thirteenth-century
Loggia dei Quattro Canti , marking the town centre of Roman Albingaunum.
Some 500m north of here, beyond Piazza Garibaldi and along Viale
Pontelungo, you'll find the odd sight of an elegant, arched 150m bridge
spanning nothing much: the Pontelungo was built here in the twelfth
century to cross the river, which shifted course soon afterwards.
The pleasant Italia , Viale Martiri della Libertà 8 (tel 0182.50.405,
fax 0182.570.273; L60,000-90,000/¬30.99-46.48), is an old 1930s-style
hotel with only shared-bath rooms. Alternatively, down on the seafront
Sole Mare , Lungomare Colombo 15 (tel 0182.51.817, fax 0182.52.752;
L120,000-150,000/¬61.98-77.47) has a range of rooms including some
bargains. The Lungomare campsite is at the mouth of the river off Strada
Vicinale Avarenna (tel 0182.51.449, fax 0182.52.525). Albenga's least
expensive restaurants are off Via Medaglie d'Oro on the alley Via
Torlaro. Da Puppo , a characterful little place with a wood-burning
pizza oven and good farinata is at no. 20, while at no. 13 is Il Vecchio
Mulino (closed Thurs) serving basic trattoria food from L9000/¬4.65.
Pricey Osteria dei Leoni , behind the baptistry at Via Lengueglia 49 (closed
Mon), has a good range of local dishes, while the popular Babette, Viale
Pontelungo 26 (closed Mon & Tues), hosts Greek-, French- and Italian-themed
dinners.
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