Some information about Liguria
the Italian Riviera - the flower coast
Liguria is one of the 20 regions of Italy ( 5448 square km). It's like a narrow (only 20 km large) semicircle around the Gulf of Genoa , with 340 km of coast. In the North Liguria is protected by the "Sea Alps" which begin at Varazze (17 km from Genoa) and end on the "Côte d'Azur". The "Sea Alps" are from 2000 to 3000 m high, while the Apennine in the North of Liguria reaches only 800 m. That's why the climate in the West of Liguria is among the most temperate in Europe. In the South the Ligurian Sea (2800 m deep) warms Liguria in winter. You can see the result in the table (result of 100 years of observation) below.
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
|
|
Temp. max |
12,4 |
12,8 |
14,6 |
17,8 |
21,4 |
24,8 |
28,0 |
27,2 |
24,6 |
20,8 |
16,0 |
13,6 |
|
Temp. middle. |
9,4 |
10,0 |
11,8 |
14,8 |
18,0 |
21,6 |
24,6 |
24,0 |
21,4 |
17,4 |
13,0 |
10,7 |
|
Temp. min. |
6,4 |
6,8 |
8,5 |
11,4 |
14,6 |
17,8 |
20,6 |
20,4 |
18,0 |
14,2 |
10,2 |
7,4 |
|
Sun minutes |
275 |
309 |
380 |
434 |
490 |
578 |
560 |
558 |
559 |
475 |
300 |
274 |
|
rain in days |
7 |
7 |
7 |
6 |
7 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
6 |
7 |
10 |
8 |
|
rain in mm |
69 |
92 |
79 |
66 |
52 |
35 |
14 |
26 |
57 |
74 |
132 |
90 |
The coast was discovered in the 19th century, when the nobles of Europe ( most of them English and Russians) spent the winter in San Remo, where Mr. Boggi built the first Luxury hotel in 1860, named in honour of the most important guests "Hotel Londra". Lord Hanbury bought in 1867 18 ha of land near the French border and started the acclimatisation of exotic plants from all over the world. In 1880 the Hanbury gardens were the most important all over Europe. The are still worth to be visited. At the end of the 19th century the farmers of San Remo started to grow flowers. Before the most important plants were lemon trees (vitamin C used by the seamen to prevent scorbutic attacks) and olive trees. In our days the flower is the most important product of the coast. Local olive oil is one of the best all over the world. The main tourism is still located on the coast ( Alassio, Andora, Cervo, San Bartolomeo al mare, Diano Marina, Imperia, San Remo are the most known ), while only a couple of km from the coast You can find small, quiet and romantic villages. That's where most strangers find there place in the sun, as real estate prices depend especially from the distance from the coast. 33% of the Ligurian territory are national parks and even the sea is a big national park for 25000 dolphins and 3000 whales.
click on the photos to have them bigger point the mouse on the small photos to see an explication
Thank You for Your visit!