Western Liguria

Discover Borgomaro and its surroundings

Borgomaro, where the Albergo Diffuso Relais del Maro has its headquarters, is the main centre in the Maro valley. This is the first part of the Impero valley: after the Trexenda stream joins the waters of the Maro near Santo Lazzaro Reale, the stream becomes the Impero.
It is called so because its course runs along the “Imperial” fiefdoms (so-called because of the imperial nomination) and gives its name to the coastal city of Imperia, founded with the union of Oneglia, Porto Maurizio and other smaller towns in 1923. The place-name “Maro” is a Ligurian term, dating earlier than the Roman presence in the area. It refers to water, in the ancient form of “Macra” that gives name to the Magra and Maira rivers in north-western Italy as well.
The Municipality of Borgomaro has about 900 inhabitants, including its hamlets. The village itself has only 300. The inhabited areas are surrounded by green countryside and woods. Here, silence and tranquillity reign, the streams flow placidly and swell only during the rains. To discover the monumental heritage of Borgomaro, see the map here.

The realm of olive oil
The area around Borgomaro is the realm of Taggiasca extra virgin olive oil, which is linked to the delicious local cuisine. Many are the food and oil traditions and typical festivals involving the inhabitants of all the Maro towns.
The residential area is made up of a grid of regular streets, with houses arranged in a checkerboard pattern. This is due to the controlled and planned settlement during the noble rule of the Lascaris. Mills and oil mills use the canals (“beudi”) built along the stream.
Inside the town, there are also important buildings, such as the tower house palace (formerly Ventimiglia and then the residence of Marquis Doria), with the portal and mullioned windows, dating back to 1481. Along the main street, you can still see the ancient shops and stone wall decorations. There is the seventeenth-century church of Sant’Antonio Abate, enriched with stuccos, paintings, inlaid marble altars, a splendid eighteenth-century marble pulpit and the triptych with the climb to Calvary and Saints Nazario and Celso. Coming from the church of the same name, it is a sixteenth-century work by Raffaele and Giulio de Rossi.
But what makes the church of Borgomaro special is our parish priest, Don Matteo: always ready to listen and give comfort to those who need it in the Church but also in front of a good plate of ravioli …

The town of bridges
Borgomaro is also made of bridges, nineteenth-century houses (such as Palazzo Cassio Amelio, now municipal), small oratories, a Franciscan convent with a church equipped with various works of art, now a retirement home. The Carabinieri police have been stationing here since 1825. Borgomaro is a small capital of the western Ligurian hinterland. You just have to come and visit us and discover it for yourself.

The beauties of Western Liguria
Characterized by the beauties of the famous Riviera Ligure di Ponente and the marvellous inland villages, Western Liguria is a fairytale territory that attracts a multitude of visitors every year. It extends to include the provinces of Savona and Imperia up to the border with France, where the strip of land and sea continues harmoniously on the French Riviera, boasting a large number of seaside villages and fine sands beaches; behind the countless villages facing the sea, extends a network of incredible towns, many of which of clear medieval origin, with typical narrow alleys clinging to hills, often dominated by small stone castles. Here, history and tradition spread, together with a food and wine culture to be discovered: from the precious Taggiasca oil, the very delicate extra virgin olive oil produced here and known all over the world for its unique organoleptic qualities, to the typical DOC wines of the area, such as Pigato, Rossese, Vermentino.