Apricale (Avrigâ or Brigar in Ligurian, Bligal in the local variant) is an Italian town of 629 inhabitants in the province of Imperia in Liguria.
Neighborhoods
Its municipal territory also includes the villages
of Foa, the Osaggio Region and Semoigo.
1 Castle of the Lizard. The manor is located in the historic village
of the town, on a rocky outcrop and dominating the saddle below. The
feudal castle was most likely built in the 10th century by the Counts of
Ventimiglia and later belonged to the noble Doria family. In ancient
times the structure was equipped with two square towers, very similar to
the castle of Dolceacqua, until later one of the two towers that
remained standing was transformed into the bell tower of the nearby
church of the Purification of the Virgin Mary.
In the following
centuries it underwent several alterations which transformed the castle
into a real fortress considered impregnable. However, the castle fell in
1523 in the siege carried out by Bishop Agostino Grimaldi, who partially
destroyed the fortress in an attempt to capture Bartolomeo Doria,
believed to be responsible for the murder of Agostino's brother and who
found refuge in the castle. The structure therefore had to be rebuilt
again, but with reduced military functions compared to its previous use.
In 1634 the castle will become the property of the Duchy of Savoy and
then return, in 1652, to belong to Francesco Doria; in 1806 it was sold
by the family to Stefano Cassini who transformed the castle into his
private residence.
In the twentieth century the new heir to the
castle, Fruttuoso Cassini, a surgeon, created two apartments inside the
castle which he later had frescoed by the painter Leonida Martini and
also created a hanging garden with a new wall towards the church. Today,
after a period of abandonment, it is owned by the Municipality of
Apricale which uses the building for exhibitions and cultural
conferences. In a corridor, created between the historic walls of the
castle, the "Gallery of the theater" has been set up where the various
posters, starting from 1990, of the cultural events taking place in the
village are displayed. The templates of the Tarot by the Genoese artist
Emanuele Luzzati are also preserved.
2 Parish Church of the
Purification of the Virgin Mary, via Fiume. The parish church is located
in the heart of the historic center of the perched medieval village of
Apricale, in front of the main square called Torracca. Built starting
from the 13th century, over the centuries it took on various
architectural aspects and profound modifications compared to the
original structure in Romanesque or Gothic style. The most radical
change was the overturning of the entrance in 1760 of the previous 17th
century layout; the new body in Baroque style and the entrance was thus
led to look directly onto the square below as well as the adjacent
castle of the Lizard. The facade dates back to the neo-Romanesque
revisitation implemented in 1935. The two portals above the side
entrances are the work of Giovanni Viale, while the rose window above
the main entrance depicts, with the mosaic technique, the Purification
of the Virgin Mary and the Presentation in the Temple. The two glazed
windows of the facade represented the figures of Saint Louis and Saint
Agnes.
The interior consists of three naves and divided by two rows
of four pillars each; the mosaic floor is the work of Giuseppe Tamagno
in 1903. In the vaults the frescoes, depicting floral motifs and saints,
were made by the painter Leonida Martini in 1904; the paintings can
instead be dated between the end of the 17th century and the 19th
century.
The bell tower of the church was obtained from the ancient
square tower of the castle at the top of which an upward facing bicycle
was fixed. The singular and curious installation is none other than a
contemporary artistic work from 2000 by Sergio Bianco, The force of
non-gravity.
3 Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, via degli
Angeli. Located along the ancient mule track to Isolabona, near the Rio
San Rocco, it stands on a rocky outcrop outside the town of Apricale. Of
the ancient church there are in fact no certain and documented news
until 1520, the year in which it is mentioned in a testamentary bequest,
leading historians to speculate about its origins, perhaps a chapel for
resting or a "guard" chapel along the downstream path. The building has
a single rectangular nave - divided into three bays closed by the apse -
decorated with simple cycles of frescoes painted between the 15th and
17th centuries; the latter were restored by the Superintendency for
Artistic and Historical Heritage of Liguria in the two-year period
1989-1990.
Scenes from the life of Mary are instead the
sixteenth-century frescoes present in the third bay, while Episodes from
the childhood of Jesus are visible in the frescoed part of the apse. The
painters Bartolomeo Asmio and Antonio Semeria, respectively from Sanremo
and Coldirodi, are given the pictorial paternity of the frescoes of the
Mysteries of the Rosary on the side walls.
4 Church of
Sant'Antonio, via Cavour. According to some sources, the church could
date back to the 13th century, of which the apse in sandstone ashlars
remains intact. A substantial revisiting and restoration intervention
was carried out between 1771 and 1776, due to the serious deterioration,
where the roof and the 17th century facade were rebuilt. Internally, the
building has a single rectangular nave with the presence of four bays
plus the apse. The fresco depicting Jesus enclosed between two arches of
light is conserved in the latter architectural element; in the upper
register other depictions of Saints Anthony the Abbot, Bartholomew and
Zeno are recognizable. These paintings, now deteriorated, could be dated
between the 14th and 15th centuries.
On the sides there are two
altars where the two paintings of the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the
Virgin Mary and the Apostles are kept - on the right - and the Pietà
between Saint Lucia and Saint Agnes - on the left - both attributed to
the painter Bartolomeo Asmio of Sanremo. Other paintings depict the
Nativity with Saint Jerome and saints, the Coronation of the Virgin Mary
and the Adoration of the Magi. There is also a 1640 wooden statue of
Saint Anthony the Abbot.
The last renovations to the building,
normally closed, date back to the nineties.
Oratory of San
Bartolomeo. Dating back to the 16th century, it is located in an
elevated position above the double arch of the fountain, opposite the
church of the Purification of the Virgin Mary and the castle of the
Lizard. Formerly the seat of the local confraternity, it was in the 18th
century that the building was plastered and most likely decorated in the
Baroque style. The facade has four pilasters with Corinthian order
capitals in relief and a large elliptical oculus above the main door.
The interior has a single rectangular nave with a vaulted roof. On the
right wall there is an oil painting depicting Saint Anthony the Abbot
which can be dated to the early 16th century. Coming from the church of
Sant'Antonio, near the cemetery, it was restored in 1960, bringing the
painting back to its original colors, and according to some artistic
reports it could be compared to the work of the painter Ludovico Brea or
the pictorial school.
Of notable artistic value is the polyptych with
six compartments in the predella above the high altar. In the center are
depicted the Madonna della Neve with Child - formerly celebrated by the
local confraternity on August 5 - and the faithful; the two saints
depicted on the sides can be identified with the figures of San
Bartolomeo and San Lorenzo. In the other panels, the personalities and
scenes of the Pietà, the Madonna with Saint John the Baptist, Jesus
seated on the tomb, the Archangel Gabriel and the Annunciation are also
recognizable. The polyptych, most likely made by local craftsmen and
artists, was commissioned by the local Micaelis Cassini de Brigali on 2
March 1544. There are also two statues of St. Bartholomew and the
Madonna della Neve, the latter created by the sculptor Paolo Olivari
from Genoa in 1859.
Chapel of San Vincenzo Ferrer. Dating back to the
16th century, but revisited in Baroque style, it is located along the
provincial road to Perinaldo about one kilometer from the center of
Apricale. It preserves the statue of the saint in a niche on the façade.
Chapel of San Martino. Perhaps already an ancient Romanesque parish
church, the first information on the chapel dates back to the 16th
century. It preserves traces of sixteenth-century frescoes in the apse
basin.
Chapel of San Rocco. Built along the mule track to Pigna, in
the northern area of the Apricalese village, it is mentioned in a
testamentary deed of 1576.
Ruins of the church of San Pietro in Ento.
According to historical sources, the building was the oldest religious
structure in the area and most likely its construction date dates back
to a period well before the birth of the medieval village of Apricale.
Located about three kilometers from the center of Apricale, along the
road to Pigna, the church was the first parish church in the small
villages of the valley. Of the ancient church, perhaps of Romanesque
origin, only a few ruins remain today which cannot be visited.
New Oil Festival, In the square in front of the castle.
Spring
Festival, In the square in front of the castle.
Valentine's Day, In
the square in front of the castle. in February.
Sagra della
Pansarola, In the square in front of the castle. Second Sunday of
September. Pansarola is a local sweet pancake.
In the Taggiasca olive area, Apricale is the City of oil; its producers also deal in olive pâté, pickled olives, pesto, acacia and chestnut honey.
In the kitchen of the village we find appetizers of stuffed
vegetables, ravioli with meat or chard, tagliatelle with pesto, baked
leg of lamb, rabbit with olives in Rossese wine, wild boar with polenta.
Average prices
1 Apricale Da Delio Restaurant, Piazza Vittorio
Veneto 9 (reserved area for smokers and non-smokers), ☎ +39 0184 208008,
info@ristoranteapricale.it. Monday and Tuesday closed for weekly rest.
2 La Capanna da Baci', Via Roma 12, ☎ +39 0184 208137,
info@baciristorante.it. closed Monday evening and Tuesday all day.
3
The caves of the Giuditta Zarusca inn, Via Roma 1, ☎ +39 0184 208522.
4 Trattoria Pizzeria Pub Al Solito Posto, Via Roma, 48, ☎ +39 380
7860331.
5 A ciassa, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II (located in the main
square of Apricale), ☎ +390184 208588. Bar-restaurant with dishes linked
to the territory, good value for money, to be frequented in the summer
with the outdoor tables overlooking the square
Average prices
1 Apricus Locanda, Via IV Novembre 5, ☎ +39 339
6008622, apricuslocanda@libero.it.
2 Locanda Dei Carugi, Via Roma 14,
☎ +39 0184 209010.
3 Locanda La Favorita Restaurant, Strada San
Pietro, 1, ☎ +39 0184 208186, info@lafavoritaapricale.com.
4 Da
Marta, Via Martiri della Libertà, 54, ☎ +39 0184 192 8315,
info@damarta.com. Bed and breakfasts.
5 Da Giua', Piazza Vittorio
Emanuele 7, ☎ +39 0184 208555, info@dagiua.it. Bed and breakfasts.
High prices
6 Muntaecara Albergo Diffuso, Piazza Vittorio Veneto
,2 (Four stars), ☎ +39 0184 209030,
info@muntaecara.it.
Pharmacy
Mungari, Viale Rimembranze, 3/A, ☎ +39 0184 208020.
Post
Poste Italiane, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, ☎ +39 0184
208110, fax: +39 0184 208110.
The medieval village is located in the
hinterland of Bordighera, in the valley of the Merdanzo stream, a
tributary of the Nervia, 13 km from the coast of the Riviera di
Ponente. Mount Bignone (1,299 m.) Is visible in the background.
Among the peaks of the municipal area are Mount Gouta (1315 m),
Mount Alto (1266 m), Mount Cerciai (1256 m), Mount Campi (702 m),
Mount Semoigo (614 m), Mount Foa ( 611 m), Mount Cianela (585 m),
Mount Osaggio (541 m) and Mount Curti (516 m).
Historical route
The origin of the village seems to date back to
the Bronze Age, thanks to the findings of burial mounds in Pian del
Re (in the local dialect Cian deu Re); other findings would make an
initial use of the territory date back to the pre-Roman period.
Officially the village was founded around the tenth century by the
counts from Ventimiglia and it was the latter who built the castle
of the Lizard in that century, where the Apricalese village will
then develop and expand. The first written attestation dates back to
1092 - with the name of Aurigallus - while a form of municipal
organization is attested to in 1210, governed by local consuls.
From the 13th century the first purchases of land and rights by
some Genoese nobles began, mostly as a ransom for the debts
contracted by the Counts of Ventimiglia towards Genoa. In
particular, in 1272 the occupation of Apricale and of the local
castle by a certain Gianella Avvocato with the help of the local
Guelph faction and the support of the Grimaldi family is mentioned
in the historical annals; the following year, however, the
Ghibelline faction managed to regain control of the Apricalese
territory and to return it to the Ventimiglia dependencies. It was
the Counts of Ventimiglia themselves, in 1267, who granted new
statutes and chapters to the community of Apricale, considered, the
latter, among the oldest in Liguria.
The purchase of the feud
by Oberto Doria - former lord of Dolceacqua since 1270 - dates back
to 1287 - who established the administrative union of Apricale with
Isolabona within the Marquisate of Dolceacqua; this union with the
island community lasted until 1573. The passage of the Marquisate of
Dolceacquese into the Duchy of Savoy dates back to 1524.
With
the annexation of the Nice countryside to the First French Republic,
in 1793, Apricale became part of the canton of Perinaldo (Menton
district), then of Monaco in the French department of the
Alpes-Maritimes.
In 1805 Apricale remained in the canton of
Dolceacqua (which replaced Perinaldo as the capital), but passed
into the new district of Sanremo, of the same department, extended
to the east due to the annexation of a part of the Ligurian
Republic.
At the fall of the First French Empire, in 1815, it
returned to the Kingdom of Sardinia, as established by the Congress
of Vienna, and subsequently to the Kingdom of Italy, from 1861. The
municipality of Apricale was subjected to the III district of
Dolceacqua in the Sanremo district of the province of Nice (later
the province of Porto Maurizio after the transfer of the Nice
territory to France).
From 1973 to 30 April 2011 he was part
of the Intemelia mountain community.
The statutes
Important for the medieval Apricalese community were the historic
municipal statutes of 1267, considered the oldest in Liguria, which
regularized the life of the inhabitants of the village with very
specific rules. Every aspect is meticulously contemplated, from the
regularization of the main economic activities, to the payment of
taxes and duties, to the penalties for the most serious crimes.
Precisely on the subject of justice various and sometimes grisly
punitive regulations were applied, from the burial of the murderer
(still alive) with the victim, to the beheading of adulterous women
up to the amputation of a foot or hand for cattle thieves. The
thefts had to be prevented by the two field guards - forced to sleep
every day in summer and two nights in winter at night in the fields
- and obliged themselves to pay material compensation following the
failure to arrest the alleged thieves eight days after the theft. .
The statutes also provided for God's judgment: the procurator of
damage or theft to third parties could be declared innocent if he
could walk - for a short distance - with a hot iron in his hand
without being burned.