Alassio historical timeline

History

Alassio has no Roman past, and that absence shapes everything after it. The land belonged to Albenga's municipium, and the first people to live here were Ingaunian refugees on a hill. A coastal borgo formed in the twelfth century under an island monastery and an inland bishop's town; it spent two and a half centuries as Albenga's subject, bought itself a measure of independence from Genoa in 1540, and built 1.6 kilometres of wall against Barbary pirates. Then it was a town of sailors — more than 2,000 of them in a population of 6,300 — until the railway brought English winter visitors in the 1870s and the whole economy turned over to them. The Muretto and the baci di Alassio, the two things the town is known for, were both invented to please tourists.

Chronology

Roman era No human settlement exists in the zone of Alassio. The area belongs to the Pagus civitatis of the municipium of Albenga. The first inhabitants of the territory are Ligurians of the Ingauni tribe, probably refugees from Albenga after the Roman legions invaded, who settle on a hill called Caste.
c. 940 The Benedictines of the Gallinaria erect the church of Sant'Anna ai Monti, with a trapezoidal nave. It is the oldest dated building in the comune. Archaeological finds made on the Roman hill road between Alassio and Albenga during its restoration in the nineteen-sixties are dated by local historians to a first urban establishment of the ninth century.
9th century The line of the Aleramici holds a lordship in Liguria and in Piedmont. This is the one proven residue of the town's foundation legend — the story of Adelasia, daughter of the emperor Otto I of Saxony, eloping with the squire Aleramo and founding Alaxia at the foot of monte Tirasso. Giosue Carducci wrote a poem about it; historians contest it.
1036 The marchioness Adelaide of Susa holds a royal court at Albenga — one of three competing explanations for the town's name, alongside the legendary Adelasia and the Latin salacia, said to describe the sandy ground.
1123 The name is attested for the first time, as Alaxe, reflecting the local pronunciation and the characteristic Ligurian rhotacisation of the "l". Sixteen further spellings are recorded before Italian unification, from Alaxium to Arassio.
12th century The first official sources mention Alassio. A certain Gandulfo "de Adalaxia" appears, selling goods of the Albenga church of Santa Maria in Fontibus and granting a vineyard to the Benedictine monastery on the isola Gallinara. Around the same time families come down from the surrounding hill settlements to the coast and found the Burgum Alaxi, and a new church is raised to Sant'Ambrogio.
1303 The Benedictine abbot Giovanni di Diano cedes all his properties in the territory of Alassio to the comune of Albenga. Until then Alassio had held political and jurisdictional standing within Albenga's territory under the protection and patronage of the abbots of the Gallinara. That protection ends here.
1382 The church of the Santissima Annunziata is erected; it is rebuilt in 1480 and keeps late-medieval frescoes. The church of the Carita, with three sculpted portals, dates from 1307.
1507 Sant'Ambrogio becomes the parish church. Its Romanesque-Gothic bell tower of the fourteenth century survives from the building before it, under a Renaissance facade.
1521-1557 Alassio walls itself. Against both the rivalry of Albenga and the raids of Turkish and Barbary pirates, the community builds a circuit of more than 1.6 kilometres around the whole town, with bastions and towers covering Borgo Barusso to the west and Borgo Coscia to the east — the latter defended by two towers but left outside the main wall. A moat called the fossao de li roxotti, now the rio Cardellino, marks the eastern edge. The main works finish in 1540; the walls are not complete until 1557. Legend credits eighteen Barbary slaves, captured by the Alassio captain Giuliano Berno, with part of the labour.
1528 Alassio's sailors arm 18 galleons for Andrea Doria, to repel the French threatening the Republic of Genoa. The French come back for revenge with galleys and tartanes into Alassio's own roadstead; the town's seamen drive them off, led by Odoardo Airaldo in Borgo Coscia and Pietro Fignone in Borgo Barusso.
23-24 January 1540 Genoa takes control, and Alassio becomes a town. The Republic institutes the Podestaria di Alassio with a podesta of its own, and Alassio obtains the title of Citta. The autonomy is partial and the source is exact about it: wide powers in civil matters, except cases involving Albenga citizens, and for the gravest crimes the podesta instructs the trial but Albenga still passes sentence. It is the first time Alassio is not under Albenga's complete control.
1625 During the hostilities between Genoa and the Duchy of Savoy, backed by France, Alassio is temporarily occupied by Piedmontese troops, later defeated by Genoese soldiers.
1796-1814 The French general Cervoni orders the magazines in the town's bastions blown up so the Austrians cannot take them — and the podesta Pasquale Fontana has them thrown into the sea instead, saving the inhabited centre. Under Napoleon the old cemetery moves outside the walls, new wells are dug, the hill terraces are rebuilt, and during Napoleon's stay at the Hotel de Rome the Catasto is drawn — the first survey of the territory. Alassio passes to the Departement du Letimbro and then the First French Empire.
1815 After the Congress of Vienna Alassio is absorbed into the province of Albenga of the Kingdom of Sardinia, and into the Kingdom of Italy from 1861.
1872 The railway station opens — a wooden building, inaugurated by the Societa per le Ferrovie dell'Alta Italia. The goods warehouse follows in 1888, and the Genoa-Ventimiglia line turns Alassio into an international resort. Among the first English winter visitors is Sir Thomas Hanbury.
1875 The Anglican pastor John Hayes founds the English Library, built outside the Anglican church so departing parishioners can leave their books. It becomes second in Italy for English-language holdings, after Florence's.
1876 General William Montagu Scott McMurdo buys the hillside that becomes Villa della Pergola, building on a residence of the Counts della Lengueglia an Anglo-Indian villino named Casa Napier for his father-in-law, general Sir Charles Napier. The main villa follows from 1880. The Gibb, McMurdo and Hanbury families make Alassio, in the encyclopaedia's phrase, a sort of English colony.
29 June 1902 The seafront promenade is an election promise, and the promise wins. A civic list called Progressista, conceived by the socialist Angelo Ciccione, takes the election on a programme that includes an agreement with the Capitaneria di Porto for the promenade from Via Giancardi to Portosalvo, a road from the station to Piazza Freghetti and the removal of the bastion on the pier. Andrea Quartino becomes mayor. Alassio's socialist section, founded in 1892, ends on 18 September 1922 with Ciccione's resignation under fascist pressure.
1936 The municipal casino of 1912 is demolished to make piazza Littorio, today Piazza Partigiani, and the gambling licence goes to Sanremo. The same year the population passes 8,000 for the first time. In 1938 the town counts 657,586 tourists, 286,000 of them foreign.
1945 The retreating Germans blow the Santa Croce narrows on the Aurelia, and the Roman arch above — the one Cecil Roberts wrote about in Portal to Paradise — has to be cut wider for cars. Under the occupation and the Italian Social Republic at least seven Jews were arrested in Alassio among those who had taken refuge in the province. At the referendum of 2 June 1946 the town votes 61.4% for the Republic. The mole, rebuilt from 1935 and destroyed by the retreating Germans, is rebuilt again in 1952.
1951-1953 The Muretto. The painter Mario Berrino, who had been collecting the autographs of famous customers at his Caffe Roma, decides with his brother Giorgio and the writer Ernest Hemingway to put them on the bare wall opposite as ceramic tiles. The first three go up at night, to avoid the paperwork; nobody objects in the morning. Miss Muretto starts the same summer and runs until 2013. From 1954 the Targa d'Oro bocce tournament runs here annually.
2006 Villa della Pergola is saved at a judicial auction by a group led by Silvia and Antonio Ricci, after wartime confiscation, decades of neglect and the German occupation of 1943-45. Paolo Pejrone restores the 22,000 square metres of garden; it reopens in 2012, wins Il Parco piu bello d'Italia for 2020-2022, and becomes an RHS Partner Garden in 2025.

Verified against Wikipedia, October 2026.

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Sources & verification Covers the sourced claims on this page.

Checked against Wikipedia — In the Roman age no human aggregate existed in the zone of Alassio. It is nonetheless certain that the Pagus civitatis of the municipium of Albenga held the areas of the present comune of Alassio. The first inhabitants of the territory of Alassio were the Ligurians, belonging to the tribe of the Ingauni. They were probably refugees from Albenga, after the victorious Roman legions invaded the Albenga territory; these refugees coming from Albenga settled on a hill called Caste or Castle. In the course of the restoration works on the church of Sant'Anna ai Monti, carried out around the nineteen-sixties, several archaeological finds were discovered on the ancient Roman hill road connecting Alassio and Albenga; according to a first study carried out by local historians, such finds may date back to a first urban establishment of the ninth century. On the hill walkers' paths on the slopes of monte Pisciavino, Casone (or caselle) are visible, typical stone constructions which served as shelter for shepherds., In the historical context of Alassio, local tradition associates its foundation with the presumed story of Adelasia and Aleramo. It is told that Adelasia (some sources also call her Alassia or Alasia) was the daughter of the emperor of Saxony, Otto I, while Aleramo (also called Alerame), son of king Vitichindo, was a valorous squire or court cup-bearer in the emperor's service. A love blossomed between them, and faced with the social disparity and the severe disapproval of the emperor the two lovers undertook a bold flight from Germany, crossing the regions of the Holy Roman Empire. Their journey led them as far as the Ligurian lands, at the foot of Monte Tirasso, where a military station already stood along the Roman road, the Julia Augusta; this place is today identified as the seat of the Madonna della Guardia. Aleramo soon revealed himself an expert charcoal burner, selling the charcoal produced at the market of the nearby town of Albenga, and with the proceeds bought the material needed for making bags and small artefacts, a skill in which Adelasia excelled. Following Aleramo's able military deeds, particularly evident during the conflicts against the Magyars, and the diplomatic intercession of the bishop of Albenga, a reconciliation took place between Otto -- who had come down into Italy to fight the Saracens -- and the couple. Aleramo was granted a fief known as the "Marca Aleramica", and Adelasia received the building of a settlement, baptised with the name of Alaxia, which subsequently developed as Alassio. The legend also attracted the attention of the poet Giosue Carducci, who dedicated a poem to it. Notwithstanding the wide appreciation of this romantic legend, it has been the object of contestation by historians and scholars. From this legend, however, there derives a proven fact: in the ninth century the line of the Aleramici held a lordship in Liguria and in Piedmont., Alassio, known for the first time in 1123 as Alaxe, reflects the local pronunciation Ar̂ase (or Ar̂asce) and illustrates a characteristic trait of the Ligurian dialects: the rhotacisation of the "l". The name underwent lexical variation over the centuries, with alterations such as Adalaxia and Alaxia, which seem to derive from the name "Adelasia", while variants such as Arasi or Aracci suggest a phonetic mixture between the Ligurian "r" and the "l"; this phenomenon led cartographers and compilers of documents to confuse the sounds. One hypothesis on the origin of the toponym links it to a legendary figure called Adelasia (or Alassia). The denomination could originate from the female name Adalaxia or Alaxia, derivations of the Lombard name Adalahais, forerunner of the name Adelaide; such variants already appeared as surnames or toponyms in the documents of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, for example Gandulfus de Adalaxia. Another hypothesis is based on the characteristic sandy soil present in the territory of Alassio, originally called "salacia", which through the linguistic phenomenon of aphaeresis was transformed over time. Alternatively some link the name to "Tirasso", from the mountain behind the town, whose name may have been Latinised and then evolved; a possible link is with the marchioness Adelaide of Susa, who in 1036 possessed a royal court at Albenga. Before the unification of Italy, Alassio was called in documents and on maps in various ways, among them Alascio, Alaxia, Alaxe, Adalaxia, Alaxii, Alassium, Alaxium, Alaxum, Arasi, Arassi, Arassa, Arassio, Aracci, Araxum, Alacium, Alaso and Alaxio., Human settlements after the Roman epoch date back to the ninth century; however, the first official sources that mention Alassio date to the twelfth century. In these documents a certain Gandulfo "de Adalaxia" is mentioned, involved in the sale of goods belonging to the Albenga church of Santa Maria in Fontibus, and in the concession of a vineyard to the monastery of the Benedictine monks situated on the isola Gallinara (or Gallinaria). Around this same epoch, some families coming from the inhabited centres surrounding Alassio gradually moved along the coast and founded the Burgum Alaxi. Subsequently a new church dedicated to Sant'Ambrogio, bishop of Milan, was erected. Numerous sources indicate that the territory of Alassio was subject to the control of the Benedictine monks of the isola Gallinara. In the fourteenth century Alassio occupied a position of political and jurisdictional importance within the territory of Albenga, benefiting from the protection and patronage of the abbots of the Gallinara. In 1303, however, this situation underwent a significant change when the Benedictine abbot Giovanni di Diano ceded all his properties in the territory of Alassio to the neighbouring comune of Albenga., The churches and places of worship of Alassio represent a rich testimony of the religious and artistic history of the region. The church of Sant'Ambrogio, a parish since 1507, presents a Renaissance facade and a Romanesque-Gothic bell tower of the fourteenth century; preserved inside are works by artists of the Genoese seventeenth century such as Bernardo Castello and Giovanni Andrea De Ferrari. The sanctuary of Nostra Signora della Guardia, on monte Tirasso, dating back to the twelfth century, offers a panoramic view over the town and houses inside it an imposing marble statue of the Madonna della Guardia. The chapel of San Rocco, originally dedicated to the Madonna della Consolazione, was renamed in the sixteenth century in honour of san Rocco, and preserves inside a valuable altarpiece of the seventeenth century depicting the Madonna with the Child, sant'Andrea and san Rocco. The small chapel, erected in 1929, is a votive memorial dedicated to those lost at sea, situated on a rocky spur near the "Luca Ferrari" marina. The church of the Cappuccini, dedicated to Santa Maria Immacolata, dating back to the eighteenth century, preserves a Baroque altar in carved walnut and a valuable pulpit of 1503. The church of the Santissima Annunziata, erected in 1382 and rebuilt in 1480, presents late-medieval frescoes and works of the seventeenth century. The church of San Sebastiano at Moglio, with an original oratory of the twelve-hundreds, is distinguished by its Baroque facade and its polychrome marble altar of the sixteen-hundreds. The church of San Vincenzo Ferreri, built in 1938 in Neo-Empire style, houses an original altar of the sixteen-hundreds and three paintings of the seventeenth century. The church of Sant'Anna ai Monti, erected around 940 by the Benedictines of the Gallinaria, presents frescoes of the fifteenth century and a trapezoidal nave. The church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, founded in the fifteenth century by san Bernardo of Siena, presents frescoes of the sixteen-hundreds and a beamed ceiling in the central nave. The church of Loreto, built in the second half of the sixteenth century, houses a painting of the Madonna di Loreto and frescoes of the Genoese schools of the sixteen-hundreds. Other churches include the church of Sant'Anna at Borgo Barusso; the church of the Carita, erected in 1307 and furnished with three sculpted portals; the Madonna delle Grazie del Caste, with a seventeenth-century painting depicting the Birth of the Madonna; the church of San Bartolomeo at Caso, built in 1603 on a rocky knoll; the Chiesa della Madonna della Neve, also at Caso; the church of Santa Croce, erected in the eleventh century by the Benedictine monks of the isola Gallinara, which presents a portico of the sixteenth century and late-medieval frescoes; and the church of San Giovanni Battista, consecrated at the end of the nineteen-eighties, an example of modern architecture. Finally the monastery of Santa Chiara, built in 1884, was erected in the locality of Belvedere. In the hamlet of Cascia stands the oratory of the Madonna del Popolo and of Sant'Erasmo, built in 1614., In the course of the sixteenth century piracy manifested itself in a relevant way at Alassio, bringing notable challenges for the commerce of the region; notwithstanding the difficulties, the inhabitants of Alassio, furnished with letters of marque, actively exercised navigation. Between 1521 and 1557 Alassio witnessed an intense building activity aimed at strengthening its defences against the constant threats coming both from the rivalry with the people of Albenga and from the attacks of Turkish and Barbary pirates. The community undertook the construction of a robust wall circuit, which in the end surrounded the entire town, extending for more than 1.6 kilometres. This imposing defensive system included solid bastions and towers, positioned strategically to protect the most vulnerable areas, among them the Borgo Barusso to the west and Borgo Coscia to the east, the latter defended by two towers but left outside the main walls. A distinctive element of the fortification was the moat, called "fossao de li roxotti" -- now known as the rio Cardellino -- which marked the eastern boundary of the town, with the Bastione di Barluffo adapting over time to house commercial activity on its ground floor. Other defensive elements along the coast included outworks and bastions, such as the Bastione di Piazza, which was demolished to create space for the seafront promenade. The porta di San Vincenzo, part of the Bastione di Barluffo, was crucial for controlling access to the town. Legend tells that eighteen Barbary slaves, captured by Giuliano Berno, a captain of Alassio, contributed to the construction of these fortifications. Notwithstanding the completion of the principal works in 1540, the walls remained unfinished until 1557, a period in which Genoa intensified its efforts to guarantee the security of its coastal localities., In 1528 sailors and captains of Alassio armed 18 galleons coming from the waters of Sarzano, collaborating under the command of admiral Andrea Doria to repel the French who were threatening the Republic of Genoa. This act did not pass unnoticed, and the French, desiring revenge for the support the Genoese had received from Alassio, armed with numerous galleys and tartanes, presented themselves threateningly in the roadstead of Alassio; notwithstanding the crossfire, the sailors of Alassio, led by Odoardo Airaldo in the Borgo Coscia and by Pietro Fignone of Borgo Barusso, repelled them. Between 23 and 24 January 1540 the Republic of Genoa assumed control of Alassio, instituting the Podestaria di Alassio and appointing a podesta as its local representative, and the town obtained the title of Citta. The podesta enjoyed wide autonomy in civil matters, with the sole exception of cases involving citizens of Albenga; in penal matters he instructed the trials for the gravest crimes, but the definitive sentence belonged to the podesta of Albenga. This was the first time Alassio was an "autonomous" comune, and not under the complete control of Albenga. In 1625, during the period of hostilities between the Genoese State and the Duchy of Savoy -- the latter helped by the Kingdom of France -- Alassio was temporarily occupied by Piedmontese troops, who were then defeated by Genoese soldiers., During the Napoleonic period Alassio saw significant changes. Initially the French general Cervoni ordered the munitions present in the town's bastions to be blown up to prevent their falling into the hands of the Austrian troops; however, thanks to the intervention of the podesta Pasquale Fontana, these munitions were thrown into the sea instead of being exploded, thus saving the inhabited centre. Subsequently, with the arrival of the Napoleonic armies, Alassio saw a period of renewal and modernisation: the old cemetery was moved outside the walls, new wells were dug for the water supply, and the terraces on the hills were remade or restructured. Moreover, during Napoleon's stay at the Hotel de Rome, important works were carried out such as the Catasto, which represented the first cartographic revolution applied to the territory of Alassio. With the Napoleonic domination Alassio became part of the Departement du Letimbro and subsequently of the First French Empire. In 1815, after the Congress of Vienna, it was incorporated into the province of Albenga of the Kingdom of Sardinia and subsequently into the Kingdom of Italy from 1861. Between 1973 and 2008 the Comune di Alassio formed part of the comunita montana ingauna., During the nineteenth century the arrival of the Genoa-Ventimiglia railway marked the beginning of Alassio's path towards its status as a renowned international tourist destination, particularly appreciated by English visitors, among whom the figure of Sir Thomas Hanbury stands out. Several other prominent English families chose Alassio as their residence, including the Gibb, McMurdo and Hanbury families. The English played a significant role in the promotion of the culture of Alassio, so much so that the town is often considered a sort of "English colony", with numerous structures and places linked to English culture, such as the English library, the "Hanbury" tennis club and the Anglican church. The English Library was founded in 1875 by the Anglican pastor John Hayes, who was one of the first Anglican chaplains of the town. Hayes built a library outside the Anglican church of Alassio, so that parishioners returning home might leave the books they did not want to carry with them. It is one of the oldest English libraries in Italy and in Europe, and is the second library in Italy for the number and importance of its volumes in the English language, surpassed only by the English library of Florence. The place survived the two world wars, and the decline of the vast English presence in favour of other peoples., During the period between 1892 and 1922 Alassio hosted a local section of the Italian Socialist Party, under the leadership of Antonio Stalla and Angelo Ciccione, the latter of whom would subsequently hold the office of Mayor of Alassio. Besides the principal section situated at Alassio, socialist sections were also formed in the surrounding frazioni of Solva and Moglio, the latter recognised as an important bastion of socialism in the region. The importance of socialist thought in the frazione of Moglio led to the foundation, on 21 December 1901, of the Unione Progresso Mogliese, an organisation that continues to exist today. In the frazione of Solva too a group of workers united to form a nucleus. Afterwards a civic list known simply as "Progressista" emerged at Alassio, conceived by Angelo Ciccione. This list presented a series of proposals, among them an agreement with the Capitaneria di Porto for the construction of the seafront promenade from Via Giancardi to Portosalvo, the demolition of buildings along Via Torino, the creation of a road connecting the railway station to Piazza Freghetti, and the removal of the bastion situated on the pier. The list obtained victory in the elections of 29 June 1902, with Andrea Quartino elected mayor. The presence of socialism and communism in the town and its frazioni came to an official conclusion on 18 September 1922, with the resignation of mayor Angelo Ciccione, motivated by the growing influence of fascism., In 1912 Alassio saw the opening of its municipal Casino, a significant addition to the social and cultural life of the town. However, this structure was demolished in 1936 to give space to the creation of piazza Littorio, today known as Piazza Partigiani; following the closure of the municipal Casino the gambling licence was transferred to the Casino of Sanremo. Carlo Noceti was elected mayor and held the office from 1923 to 1926. In that period the new Via Dante was extended as far as Piazza Paccini, under the direction of the podesta Santino Durante, elected in 1927; in parallel a new Anglican church was built in an elevated position with respect to the railway line, since the previous church had been incorporated into the land owned by the Ferrovie dello Stato, and it still exists. In 1929, with the arrival of the prefectural commissioner Novaro, Alassio granted honorary citizenship to the Duce; the same year also saw the erection of a small chapel dedicated to those lost at sea. Two years later, in 1931, a monument to the town's fallen was inaugurated, and in 1934, under the direction of the new podesta Andrea Quartino, the cemetery of Valbona or Barbona was opened. In 1935 the reconstruction of the Molo began, which was subsequently destroyed by the retreating Nazis and rebuilt in 1952. In 1936 the population of Alassio exceeded 8,000 inhabitants for the first time. Two years later, in 1938, the construction of an overpass began in order to eliminate the level crossing situated to the east of the town, a modification definitively implemented only after the war. In 1940, following the demolition of the ancient Church of San Vincenzo situated in the present Piazza Partigiani, a new parish was built to the west of the town, keeping the same name., In the period of the German occupation and of the Italian Social Republic, at least 7 were arrested at Alassio among the numerous Jews who had sought refuge from the deportations in the province of Savona. After the end of the Second World War, in 1945, the arch of Santa Croce, mentioned in the book "Portal to Paradise" by Cecil Roberts, was modified to permit the passage of motor cars along the historic Roman road. This necessity emerged following the actions of the Nazis who, fleeing at the end of the conflict, destroyed the narrows of Santa Croce situated on the Aurelia below. At the institutional referendum of 2 June 1946 the town of Alassio expressed its vote in favour of the Italian Republic with a percentage of 61.4%. Like many other Ligurian localities, such as Sanremo or Portofino, during the economic boom Alassio knew a further increase in its popularity as a seaside tourist destination., The tourist industry, concentrated principally on bathing tourism and on hospitality, stands at the summit of the economy of Alassio, being the principal lever of economic development for the town. Alassio hosts numerous tourists every year, at times reaching peaks of 80,000 individuals, who come not only from northern Italy -- the latter usually during the summer season -- but also from other parts of Europe; the most celebrated are certainly the English and the Germans during the winter season, while the French who make excursions on the Cote d'Azur also occasionally pass through. From the tourist point of view, in 1929 Alassio registered almost 20,000 visitors during the summer, reaching an annual total of 500,000 people. In 1938 the number of tourists increased to 657,586, of whom 286,000 were foreigners. However, because of the war, the number of visitors diminished drastically to 442,000 people. After the influx of the English, Alassio became a sought-after destination also for tourists coming from the north of Liguria, among them the residents of Turin, Milan, Brescia and Bergamo., The installation of the Muretto di Alassio is placed in time between 1951 and 1953, when the painter Mario Berrino, animated by the will to transform the bare and anonymous wall in front of his bar, the Caffe Roma, decided to begin this project. Even before the idea of making the Muretto, Mario Berrino had begun the practice of collecting the signatures of the famous figures who frequented his bar, and this habit of collecting autographs proved fundamental in the creative process that led to the birth of the Muretto. Together with his friend and regular customer Ernest Hemingway, who happened to be staying at Alassio in that period, Berrino conceived the idea of adding tiles with the signatures of illustrious figures above the little wall in front of the Caffe Roma, and Hemingway was amply in agreement. The first tile to be laid on the Muretto di Alassio was Hemingway's, followed subsequently by that of the Quartetto Cetra and by that of Cosimo di Ceglie. However, this operation took place at night, or at dawn, in order to avoid bureaucratic complications and not to arouse suspicion among the residents of Alassio. Notwithstanding the clandestine nature of the operation, the following morning, when the first three tiles were already visible to all, nobody raised objections; this apparent tacit assent further encouraged the initiative, leading to the gradual increase of the tiles day after day., In the summer of 1953 Alassio had already affirmed its position as a renowned tourist destination, and the Muretto had meanwhile transformed itself into a popular meeting place for the young. During this period the custom spontaneously emerged of "electing" the most beautiful girl of the summer, who soon acquired the title of Miss Muretto. The best-known figures who have taken part in Miss Muretto are Simona Ventura and Maria Teresa Ruta, respectively winners of the 1986 edition and of the 1977 edition. Sixty years after its first edition, in 2013 the last Miss Muretto competition was held, which saw as winner Calina Simona Pletosu. The decision to conclude the contest was taken by the director of the competition, Francesco di Biase, nephew of the creator of the muretto Mario Berrino; the principal objective of this choice was to re-establish attention on the Muretto itself, whose cultural significance risked being overwhelmed by the attention concentrated on the beauty contest. The conclusion of Miss Muretto was probably also influenced by practical factors, such as the lack of funds and the diminution of interest in beauty contests in Italy., The Villa della Pergola is a historic residence of Alassio in Italy. The land on the hill of Alassio on which the villa stands was bought in 1876 by general William Montagu Scott McMurdo, who, together with his compatriot George Henderson Gibb, was among the first Britons to spend the winter period in the locality of Alassio. General McMurdo then had built, upon a pre-existing residence of the Counts della Lengueglia, a small villa in Anglo-Indian style baptised "Casa Napier" in honour of his father-in-law, general Sir Charles Napier; the villa proper, of eclectic style, was instead erected from 1880. From 1922 the property subsequently belonged to the Hanbury family. During the war period the estate remained closed and subject to confiscation; because of the lack of maintenance and the intrusions of wild animals a significant deterioration of the park occurred, a situation that worsened during the occupation of the German troops between 1943 and 1945. From the early nineteen-eighties the property passed temporarily to the De Martini family, who carried out some restoration interventions limited exclusively to the buildings. In 2006 the Park and the villas were the object of a judicial auction sale and were subsequently bought by a group led by Silvia and Antonio Ricci. In collaboration with the competent authorities, actions of conservation and recovery were carried out to preserve the historic dwellings and the garden, which was subsequently returned to public enjoyment. The two main villas present an eclectic style. An element of note is given by the dome clad in polychrome majolica of Albisola. The villas, today part of Relais & Chateaux, are immersed in a vast visitable park, rich in botanical species., The Gardens of the Villa della Pergola develop around the two main villas and are situated in a privileged position with a view over the sea, and are visitable with guided visits. They cover an area of 2.2 hectares and were created from the nineteenth century onwards; thanks to the actions undertaken by the various owners, the gardens harmoniously combine the typical Mediterranean vegetation with a rich variety of exotic plants. The intervention of the McMurdos was distinguished principally by the transformation of an ancient Ligurian agricultural holding into a sumptuous park, through the introduction of numerous ornamental plants and the use of balustrades in terracotta to delimit the most suggestive panoramic points. Upon this layout, from 1922 by the work of the Hanbury family, the park of the villa knew a period of notable development, and it is in this period that it assumed an increasingly exotic and botanically rich aspect; systematic actions were undertaken to enrich the plant collections, which included the addition of splendid specimens of palms such as the washingtonias, the date palms and the canariensis, besides the Mexican cycads. With the passing of the decades and of the owners, among whom Sir Walter Hamilton Dalrymple and the descendants of the Hanbury family stand out, the park saw the addition of new plant species, fountains and landscape works of value. After the great work of recovery that took place with the new ownership from 2006, the gardens have been tended by the landscape architect Paolo Pejrone. One of the distinctive characteristics of the park is its evergreen flora, which combines with the tropical plants brought to the place by the Hanbury family, a mixture that includes trees such as the maritime pines, the olives, the cypresses and the cedars of Lebanon, blending harmoniously with exotic plants such as jacarandas, giant strelitzias, araucarias and a specimen of the rare Wollemia nobilis. A significant aspect of the Gardens is the creation of renowned botanical collections: the collection of wisterias is considered the most important in Italy, with about 40 different varieties, and the collection of agapanthus counts more than 500 different species, the largest in Europe both for quantity of specimens and for number of different species. In addition the park hosts a vast collection of citrus trees coming from various parts of the world. The Gardens won the competition "the Most Beautiful Park in Italy" 2020/2022, and since 2025 they are a Partner Garden of the Royal Horticultural Society, one of the few gardens to boast this recognition outside the United Kingdom., The communal territory of Alassio is crossed by the A10 Genoa-Ventimiglia motorway, which presents no junction dedicated exclusively to the town. Also present are the strada statale 1 Via Aurelia, which permits the connection with Albenga to the east and Laigueglia to the west, the strada provinciale 18 Alassio-Testico, the strada provinciale 55 Bossoleto-Crocetta di Alassio and the strada statale 717 di Villanova di Albenga. Alassio is crossed by the Genoa-Ventimiglia railway, single-track in the Alassio stretch, where the railway station of Alassio stands, provided with three tracks at the service of travellers; for the latter the sinking of the railway bed with the construction of an underground station is planned, analogously to what has happened with the station of Sanremo, placed on the same route. The original station of Alassio, built in wooden materials, saw its inauguration in 1872 by the Societa per le Ferrovie dell'Alta Italia, an entity that subsequently became part of the Rete Mediterranea; subsequently, in 1888, the goods warehouse was built, thus widening the functions of the station. The railway station of Alassio saw the birth of a new building for passengers thanks to the work of the engineer Achille Manfredini, who completed the project in 1915. This railway area is characterised by three tracks, each with its own platform and connected to one another by an underpass. The station has been equipped with technologies for the monitoring and management of railway traffic and, for a certain period, has been controlled remotely from the operations centre of Albenga., In the course of the years Alassio has been the seat of numerous events of various kinds. Among these are counted local initiatives, such as the beauty competition Miss Muretto, and cultural events, among them the annual literary prizes of September, namely the centolibri, destined for writers and publishing houses: the literary prize "Un autore per l'Europa" in September, and the prize for publishing houses "Un editore per l'Europa", also in September. Every year, beginning from 1954, Alassio becomes the theatre of the most followed and deeply rooted bocce competition in Italy, which enjoys fame also beyond the national borders: known as the "Targa d'Oro", this contest, which sees the participation of teams composed of four players each, takes place under the auspices of the Federazione Italiana Bocce. Alassio presents itself for years as the town that hosts the summer training of the women's national volleyball team, and organises an international volleyball tournament, the Challenge Cup, which is played at the Palalassio "Lorenzo Ravizza". For cycling, in 1951 Alassio was the arrival point of the second stage of the Giro d'Italia, won by Antonio Bevilacqua, and from 1979 to 1997 it was also the arrival point of the Nice-Alassio. Alassio has been and continues to be one of the points of passage for the cyclists who take part in the classic road race Milan-Sanremo. A further cycling event in the town is the Granfondo del Muretto di Alassio MTB, which consists of a single-track course of 38 kilometres, beginning near the sea, developing through hill and panoramic routes, and then concluding again near the sea. The Circolo Nautico "Al Mare" of Alassio was founded on 3 June 1925, named in this way because its first seat was situated near the beach in the vicinity of the Pontile Bestoso; from the nineteen-sixties the seat has been transferred to the "Luca Ferrari" marina. One of the most active amateur sporting associations in the whole of Europe, it has given Italian sport numerous champions who have taken part in various editions of the Olympic Games, and it has organised over the years four world championships -- of the Flying Dutchman class in 1967 and 1982, the Finn Gold Cup in 1982 and the D-ONE in 2012 -- besides numerous European and national championships and a great many international regattas. Its sailing school has been active for 43 years. Introduced in France, the discipline of Wave Walking found a fervent following at Alassio from 2018, consolidating itself as a significant point of reference for this particular form of thalassotherapy in the Italian panorama; Wave Walking is based on a walk that takes place with the body partially submerged in the water of the sea. The enthusiasm for this discipline led to the creation of the Alassio Wave Walking Cup. The activity of trekking in the vicinity of Alassio concentrates principally on the surrounding hill zones, where an intense network of routes and tracks through woods and olive groves makes the practice accessible to beginners as much as to the most expert enthusiasts; these paths are articulated in historic routes and tracks used in the past by shepherds and woodcutters. One of the itineraries is the via Julia Augusta, which extends from Albenga as far as Alassio; setting out from Alassio in the direction of Albenga, one has the opportunity to discover the ancient ruins of the Roman town of Albingaunum. Another option is the path called "del rosmarino", positioned at an altitude of 200 metres, which begins at Alassio and leads to the neighbouring borgo of Laigueglia. The Palazzetto dello Sport Lorenzo Ravizza, sometimes called Palalassio or Palaravizza, is a multifunctional facility in via Neghelli, in the western zone of Alassio, with a capacity of 1,950 spectators, where training is regularly held in disciplines such as basketball, volleyball, roller figure skating, kick boxing, gym activity, artistic gymnastics and contemporary dance. The municipal stadium "Sandro Ferrando", inaugurated in 2011, is designed to accommodate up to 1,600 spectators and includes a bar as well as changing rooms; the playing surface, of synthetic grass certified by the Lega Nazionale Dilettanti, is suitable for hosting matches up to the level of Serie D., In 1827 the population of Alassio amounted to about 7,000 inhabitants. In 1830 the number reduced slightly to 6,848 individuals, distributed in 833 dwellings and belonging to 1,602 families; of these, 600 people resided in the frazione of Moglio, 300 in the frazione of Solva and 60 in the frazione of Caso. In 1834 the total population fell further to 6,300 individuals, of whom it is estimated that more than 2,000 were sailors. The most substantial groups of foreign residents in the comune are Romania with 224, Albania with 142, Egypt with 98, Morocco with 97, Bangladesh with 79, Ukraine with 67, China with 40, Germany with 28, Brazil with 27 and the Russian Federation with 22. (October 2026).