Sanremo
[1](San Rœmu
in Ligurian) is a city with about 57,000 inhabitants on the Mediterranean coast of western Liguria in north-western Italy. It was founded in Roman times and is now best known as a tourist destination on the Italian Riviera and the host of cultural events such as the Sanremo Music Festival and the Milan-Sanremo cycling classic arrival. It is widely accepted as the origin of the Five-card stud variant, Telesina [2].
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Name
The name of the city is a
phonetic contraction of
Sant'Eremo di San Romolo
, which refers to
Romulus of Genoa, the successor to
Syrus of Genoa. In
Ligurian his name is
San Rœmu
. The spelling
San Remo
is on all ancient maps of
Liguria, the ancient
Republic of Genoa, Italy in the Middle Ages, the
Kingdom of Sardinia and the
Kingdom of Italy. It was used in 1924 in official documents during
Fascism.
History
Once the Roman settlement of
Matutia
or
Villa Matutiana
, Sanremo expanded in the Early
Middle Ages when the population moved to the high grounds and built a castle and the walled village of La Pigna to protect the town from
Saracen raids.
At first subjected to the countship of Ventimiglia, it later passed under the dominion of the Genoese bishops, who in 1297 sold it to the Doria and De Mari families. It became a free town in the second half of the 15th century and spread on the Pigna hill and at , the Cathedral. The almost perfectly preserved old village remains.
Sanremo remained independent from
Genoa for a long time, and in 1753, after 20 years of fierce conflicts, it rose against the hegemonical attempts of the Genoese Republic. At that time that the latter built the fortress of Santa Tecla situated on the beach near the port. The fortress was used as a prison until 2002, and is now being transformed into a museum.
After the French domination and the
Savoy restoration (1814), Sanremo was annexed to the
Kingdom of Sardinia.
The town grew bigger from the middle of the 18th century with the development of tourism: the first Grand Hotels were built and the town extended along the coast. Notable people such as the Empress Elisabeth of Austria "Sissi", Czar Nicola of Russia, Alfred Nobel, Italo Calvino and the Empress
Maria Alexandrovna stayed here.
Economy
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Sanremo enjoys special weather conditions throughout the year due to its vicinity to the
Mediterranean Sea and the presence of
Maritime Alps right behind the town, Monte Bignone, the highest peak, being some 1,300 m above the sea level. So the town shows a climate that is often described as one of 'perpetual spring', with warm days and chilly nights and little variation of temperature around the year. These conditions make Sanremo one of the most attractive tourist destinations on the
Italian Riviera. There are plenty of tourist attractions open year-round and it has numerous and well-equipped sports facilities, such as a golf course and a riding ground. There are two tourist harbours, Porto Vecchio and the modern Porto Sole. Many boutiques and local shops are in the town centre. The colourful market, held on Tuesday and Saturday mornings in Piazza Eroi Sanremesi, is notable among the people living in the Italian and French Rivieras.
The Municipal
Casino, built in 1905, is an example of
liberty style building. The Ariston Theatre offer annual series of concerts, operas and theater plays. The Symphony Orchestra is one of twelve symphony orchestras recognized by the state of Italy and it performs some 120 concerts throughout the year, most in the Municipal Casino's Opera Theater.
Besides tourism, the city is active in the production of
Extra Virgin olive oil, whose regional
"designation of origin" is protected (D.O.P.,
Denominazione di Origine Protetta
) and makes it one of the main production activities in western
Liguria and in particular within the province of
Imperia. Sanremo is known as the City of Flowers (
la Cittá dei Fiori
), this being another important aspect of the economy of the city. The nearby towns of
Arma di Taggia,
Bordighera and
Ospedaletti are also involved in the cultivation of flowers for the international flower market of Sanremo.
Transportation
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The city is connected to
Genoa and to
Ventimiglia, the border city with
France, by the
A10 motorway, whose last part is also known as the
Autostrada dei Fiori
("Freeway of Flowers"). It has a large number of elevated sections with viaducts and tunnels and gives a panoramic view of the coast. The A10 Autostrada joins the French
A8 autoroute at the border between Ventimiglia and
Menton. Together these national routes are part of the
European route E80. Both the French and Italian motorways are
toll roads.
The closest airport to Sanremo is in France, the
Côte d'Azur International Airport in
Nice, 75 minutes away by car or train. The railway also passes through the city and connects it to the other Ligurian cities and to Nice,
Milan,
Turin and
Rome.
The railway line used to be right on the coast, very close to the sea, allowing travelers to admire the beauty of it. The line has been moved further north and underground, speeding trains up, with the main station relocated next to the City Hall. Today an ongoing project, carried by , is refurbishing the old area once occupied by the railway and converting it into a biking route and a pedestrian area.
Other roads of importance are the SS1, the "Aurelia Bis", which connects Sanremo to
Taggia. This is a non-tolled
bypass route. The coast road is the
via Aurelia or SS1 and follows the route of a Roman road. This can be heavily congested when it passes through towns as it is only one lane in either direction for most of way around Sanremo.
Climate
Culture
The Sanremo Music Festival
The Ariston Theater hosts the celebre annual
Sanremo Music Festival, a very popular song contest held in the city since 1951. This festival inspired the
Eurovision Song Contest, which started in 1956, and for years the Sanremo festival selected the Italian entry. The internationally notable song
"Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu"
, also known as
"Volare"
, was performed at this festival for the first time by
Domenico Modugno in 1958. The festival is so popular amongst Italians that it is often referred to simply as "Il Festival" (
The
Festival). Other events include the Tenco Prize (autumn), a song contest for authors dedicated to the memory of
Luigi Tenco; the Flowers Parade in January/February in which every city of the Italian Riviera presents an original composition of flowers displayed on a Carnival/Mardi-Gras style moving car; and the summer Firework International Contest in the second week of July.
Sports
The
Rallye Sanremo is a
rally competition that was part of the
FIA World Rally Championship from
1973 to
2003. It was replaced by
Rally d'Italia Sardegna on the island of
Sardinia, in hosting the Italian round of the WRC. Formerly a mixed surface event (tarmac and gravel), the rally has later been an all-tarmac event and takes place around the mountains. Sanremo is the finish of the classic
Milan-Sanremo cycle race (294 km) of the
UCI ProTour, one of the five '
Monuments' of the cycling season. Milan-Sanremo is traditionally held in March, and is one of the first major fixtures on the cycling season.
The
U.S. Sanremese Calcio football club is based in Sanremo, playing in
Serie C2/A.
Cuisine
The culinary specialities of Sanremo and environs include
Sardenara, Focaccia, Focaccia alle Cipolle, Torta Verde, Farinata and Tallesca olives.
Notable people
- The Venerable Giorgio Baldassarre Oppezzi, a monk who died in 1525, and whose body was later discovered to be incorrupt, is buried here in the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli.
- Maria Alexandrovna, consort of Alexander II of Russia, spent the winter of 1874 in Sanremo and as a gift to the city she donated the palms along the seaside walk of Corso Imperatrice (Empress Avenue).
- Italian-American mobster friend of Jimmy Burke, "Remo", whose name was derived from the city.
- Alfred Nobel bought a villa in Sanremo in 1891 and died there in 1896. Since 2002 it has housed a permanent exhibit on the most important discoveries of the 19th century including the research interests of Nobel himself. Sanremo continues to maintain its ties with Nobel, long after his death. Each 10 December large quantities of flowers sent by the province of Imperia, the city of Sanremo and the Board for Tourist Promotion of the Riviera dei fiori adorn the annual Nobel Prize Award Ceremony and Banquet in Stockholm.
- Italian writer Italo Calvino spent his youth in Sanremo and many of his novels, including Il Barone Rampante are reminiscent of his attachment to the city.
- Edward Lear, artist, illustrator and writer known for his nonsense poetry and limericks, lived and died in Sanremo. His tombstone is in the Foce Cemetery.
- The Italian actor and comedian Carlo Dapporto was born in Sanremo and became a household name in post-war Italy.
- The Sicilian playwright and Nobel Prize winner Luigi Pirandello lived in Sanremo in 1933-34 and was appointed artistic director of the Casino.
- The writer Tobias Smollett stayed a few days in Sanremo in 1765 and described it thus: "St. Remo is a pretty considerable town, well-built upon the declivity of a gently rolling hill...There is very little plain ground in this neighbourhood; but the hills are covered with oranges, lemons, pomegranates and olives....The women of St. Remo are much more handsome and better tempered than those of Provence." Travels through France and Italy
(1766)
- Italian director and cinematographer Mario Bava was born in Sanremo in 1914.
- Italian-born sculptor Giuseppe Moretti lived in Sanremo in his final years and died here in February 1935. Moretti designed the world's largest cast iron statue, of the Roman god Vulcan (56 ft or 17 m), which stands atop Red Mountain in Birmingham, Alabama (USA). The statue is the symbol of the city.
- Mehmed VI, the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, died in Sanremo on May 16, 1926.
- Juan Manuel Fangio won his first European Grand Prix in Sanremo-Ospedaletti in 1949.
Notable events
The
Sanremo conference, 19-
26 April 1920, of the post-World War I Allied Supreme Council determined the allocation of Class "A" League of Nations mandates for administration of the former Ottoman-ruled lands of the Middle East by the victorious powers. The most notable of these was the
British Mandate of Palestine.
Sanremo is the home of International Institute of Humanitarian Law, the most notable institute in courses about refugees and international humanitarian law.
San Remo hosts an annual poker tournament as part of the European Poker Tour.
References
- The official spelling of the city is Sanremo, a phonetic contraction of San Romolo (Saint Romolo), official saint and protector of the city, which in the local Ligurian sounds like ''Sanrœmu''. The spelling ''San Remo'' was introduced in 1924 by the Mayor and used in official documents during Fascism. This form of the name is still used on some road signs and, more rarely, on unofficial tourist information. It has been the most widely used form of the name in English at least since the 19th century.
- Telesina Review :: Poker - by Reviewed Online Poker
- Average daily sun hours in San Remo