Imperia

File:Porto inizio '800 (Fleury).jpg

The name of Oneglia may have its roots in the pre-Roman settlement of Pagus Unelia, on the hill of Castelvecchio, which was probably one of the sex oppida of the Liguri. This spawned Ripa Uneliae, a village down on the coast probably on the site of the modern-day Borgo Peri. Modern Oneglia became established on its modern site around 935AD, possibly after it was destroyed by the Saracens; in 1100 it became a fief of the Diocese of Albenga. In 1298 Oneglia became part of the fiefdom of the Doria family of Genoa; the famous admiral Andrea Doria (1466–1560) was born in the town. The Dorias sold the town to Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy in 1576, and Oneglia essentially remained a Savoyard enclave in the Republic of Genoa until Italian unification. Nonetheless, it was on the front line in the wars of the House of Savoy; it was seized in 1614 and 1649 by the Spaniards and in 1623 and 1672 by the Genoese.{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Porto Maurizio |volume=22 |pages=123–124}} In 1692 it had to repulse an attack by a French squadron; in 1744–45 it was again occupied by the Spaniards, and in 1792 bombarded and burned by the French.

Porto Maurizio was a Roman settlement, Portus Maurici, which, though named in the brief maritime itinerary appended to the Antonine Itinerary,Noted in William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, vol 2 1873:187, s.v. "Liguria" must be an interpolation in manuscripts of that third century document, since it is named after Saint Maurice, leader of the Theban Legion who were not martyred until 286 and could not have been memorialized until the Christianized Empire of the fourth century."Portus Maurici, dessen Name auf christliche Zeitalter hindeutet" (Konrad Mannert, Geographie der Griechen und Römen aus Ihren Schriften, Volume 9, Part 1 Book 3, 1823:276); Domenico Anfossi, De sacrarum reliquiarum cultu (1610) suggests a deformation of Maurorum Portus in a passage quoted extensively in Giuseppe Figari, Saggi cronologici della città del Porto-Maurizio 1810:13. It became a Byzantine port after the Gothic Wars of the 6th century, then passed to the Order of Saint Benedict. It was subject to the counts of Turin in the 11th century, and then to the marchesi of Clavesana. Boniface of Clavesana sold the town to the Republic of Genoa in 1288An earlier notice in the continuator of Caffaro's Annals of Genoa, under the year 1204 and other years, is mentioned in Peter Wesseling's notices of the Antonine Itinerary, Vetera Romanorum itineraria, sive Antonini Augusti itinerarium (Amsterdam 1735:502) s.v. "Portus Maurici". in return for a yearly payment, as part of Genoa's expansion into western Liguria. In 1354 it became the seat of the Genoese vicar of the western Riviera. The town prospered even though control of Genoa passed between the French, the Duchy of Milan, and the Spanish. During the Napoleonic Wars Napoleon Bonaparte himself stopped for a night in Porto Maurizio and spent the night on the Parrasio on the third floor of Palazzo Lavagna. At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, it was awarded to the Kingdom of Sardinia, before finally joining a united Italy in 1861.

Mussolini created the city of Imperia on 21 October 1923 by the union of Porto Maurizio and Oneglia and the surrounding village communes of Piani, Caramagna Ligure, Castelvecchio di Santa Maria Maggiore, Borgo Sant'Agata, Costa d'Oneglia, Poggi, Torrazza, Moltedo and Montegrazie.

The economy of Imperia is based on tourism, food industry (olive oil and pasta), a specialized agriculture (olive groves and flowers in greenhouses) and on trading and harbour activities. The seaside tourism represents an important aspect of the economy of Imperia.

Imperia consists of the two historical districts of Porto Maurizio and Oneglia, which lie on either side of the River Impero that gives its name to the city.

Porto Maurizio is situated on a peninsula to the west of the river, stretching along the coastline. It is the wealthiest and most colorful district of the city, threaded by narrow lanes known as carrugi, and its economy centers on the tourist industry. It was a possession of Genoa from the 13th century.

Oneglia (Inéja in Ligurian) lies on an alluvial plain to the east of the Impero, and with its working port is the most modern and industrialized of the two districts. At its centre lies Dante Square, from which radiate some of the main roads of the city.

Imperia experiences a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa).

{{Weather box|width=auto

|metric first=y

|single line=y

|collapsed = Y

|location = Imperia (1981–2010)

|Jan high C = 12.8

|Feb high C = 12.8

|Mar high C = 14.7

|Apr high C = 16.6

|May high C = 20.5

|Jun high C = 23.8

|Jul high C = 26.7

|Aug high C = 27.2

|Sep high C = 24.2

|Oct high C = 20.6

|Nov high C = 16.3

|Dec high C = 13.8

| year high C =

|Jan mean C = 10.1

|Feb mean C = 9.9

|Mar mean C = 11.9

|Apr mean C = 13.9

|May mean C = 17.7

|Jun mean C = 20.9

|Jul mean C = 23.8

|Aug mean C = 24.3

|Sep mean C = 21.2

|Oct mean C = 17.9

|Nov mean C = 13.6

|Dec mean C = 11.2

| year mean C =

|Jan low C = 7.4

|Feb low C = 7.2

|Mar low C = 9.1

|Apr low C = 11.1

|May low C = 14.8

|Jun low C = 18.0

|Jul low C = 20.8

|Aug low C = 21.3

|Sep low C = 18.3

|Oct low C = 15.2

|Nov low C = 10.9

|Dec low C = 8.6

| year low C =

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 83

|Feb precipitation mm = 91

|Mar precipitation mm = 85

|Apr precipitation mm = 63

|May precipitation mm = 50

|Jun precipitation mm = 32

|Jul precipitation mm = 14

|Aug precipitation mm = 31

|Sep precipitation mm = 54

|Oct precipitation mm = 86

|Nov precipitation mm = 119

|Dec precipitation mm = 88

|year precipitation mm =

|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm

| Jan precipitation days = 6

| Feb precipitation days = 5

| Mar precipitation days = 6

| Apr precipitation days = 5

| May precipitation days = 6

| Jun precipitation days = 4

| Jul precipitation days = 2

| Aug precipitation days = 3

| Sep precipitation days = 4

| Oct precipitation days = 6

| Nov precipitation days = 8

| Dec precipitation days = 5

| year precipitation days =

|source 1 = Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (precipitation 1951–1980){{cite web

| url = https://www.isprambiente.gov.it/files/pubblicazioni/SA_55_14_Valori_climatici_normali.pdf

| title = Valori climatici normali di temperatura e precipitazione in Italia

| publisher=Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale

| access-date = 26 November 2024}}

| source 2 = Climi e viaggi (precipitation days){{cite web

| url = https://www.climieviaggi.it/clima/italia/imperia

| title = Clima - Imperia (Liguria)

| publisher= Climi e viaggi

| access-date = 26 November 2024}}

}}

{{wide image|Imperia (Ligurien) mit Porto Maurizio und Oneglia rechts.jpg|1500px|View of Porto Maurizio from the harbour of westernmost Oneglia}}

File:Imperia Porto Maurizio.JPG

File:Duomo San Maurizio-2.jpg

• Cathedral of San Maurizio, built between 1781 and 1832 by Gaetano Canton, the largest church in Liguria[www.parrocchiasanmaurizio.it]
• Old Town, called Parasio
• Convent of Santa Chiara, first established in 1365, the existing structure dates from 1741
• There is a small Naval Museum in the town

File:Villa Grock.jpg]]

• Museo dell' Olivo (The Museum of the Olive)
• Villa Grock, built for the clown Grock (1880–1959)
• Church of San Giovanni Battista, built in 1739–62.
• Calata Giovanni Battista Cuneo, a historic quay lined with restaurants
• The historic Palazzo Municipale in Piazza Danta.

• Church of Santa Maria Maggiore
• Shrine of Nostra Signora delle Grazie

File:Imperia-Oneglia - autostrada A10 - viadotto Oliveto 1º.jpg, crossing the valley above Oneglia]]

Imperia is served by the Autostrada A10 motorway, also known as L'Autostrada dei Fiori which runs along the Ligurian coast between Genoa and Ventimiglia on the French border. The road crosses the city via a series of high viaducts and mountain tunnels over the valley. Two junctions serve the city, one in the west close to Porto Maurizio, and another in the east above Oneglia. The A10 also forms part of European route E80.

Bus services across the Province of Imperia are operated by the public transport body Riviera Trasporti (RT).{{cite web|title=Profilo e storia della Riviera Trasporti|url=http://www.rivieratrasporti.it/AboutRT.asp|access-date=1 October 2014|language=IT}}

The Genoa–Ventimiglia railway line runs through Imperia: the city is served by a central Imperia railway station, on a double-track route opened on 11 December 2016,{{cite web|title=Treni, iniziata l'era del raddoppio Andora-San Lorenzo|url=http://www.ilsecoloxix.it/p/imperia/2016/12/11/ASCSLSVF-lorenzo_iniziata_raddoppio.shtml|access-date=12 December 2016|language=IT|archive-date=14 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161214004011/http://www.ilsecoloxix.it/p/imperia/2016/12/11/ASCSLSVF-lorenzo_iniziata_raddoppio.shtml|url-status=dead}} replacing the old narrow coastal route confined by the sea and long tunnels under the rocky coastline, and therefore built as a single-track railway. The old route was originally built in 1872 and closed with the opening of the new inland route; the city was served by two railway stations serving the two centres of Imperia, {{rws|Imperia Porto Maurizio}} and Imperia Oneglia railway station.{{cite book|last1=Whitehouse|first1=Rosie|title=Liguria : the Bradt travel guide|date=2013|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides|location=Chalfont St. Peter|isbn=9781841624730|pages=194–196|edition=1st}}

{{wide image|File:Genoa–Ventimiglia railway Imperia map.jpg|500px|Old and new lines of the Genoa–Ventimiglia railway}}

Natives of Imperia:

• Gaetano Amadeo (1824–1893), organist and composer
• Edmondo de Amicis (1846–1908), writer and journalist
• Carlo Amoretti (1741–1816), ecclesiastic and writer
• Maria Amoretti (1756–1787), lawyer
• Pellegrino Amoretti, assistant secretary to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
• Domingo Belgrano (1730–1795), politician
• Luciano Berio (1925–2003), composer
• Andrea Doria (1466–1560), statesman and admiral
• Renato Dulbecco (1914–2012), Italian–American virologist and Nobel Prize winner
• Luca Fiuzzi (1984), football player
• Saint Leonard of Port Maurice
• Francesco Moraldo, "Creppo di Triora" (1906–2001), Righteous Among the Nations in 1999
• Alessandro Natta (1918–2001), politician
• Giulio Natta (1903–1979), chemist and Nobel Prize winner in 1963
• Giovan Pietro Vieusseux (1779–1863), writer and publisher :it:Giovan Pietro Vieusseux

Others:

• Grock (1880–1959), entertainer

{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Italy}}

Imperia is twinned with:

• {{flagicon|GER}} Friedrichshafen, Germany
• {{flagicon|ARG}} Rosario, Argentina{{cite web |url=http://www.rosario.gov.ar/mr/mri/www/city-city-program/town-twinning-agreements |title=Town Twinning Agreements |publisher=Municipalidad de Rosario - Buenos Aires 711 |access-date=2014-10-14 |archive-date=19 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319103223/http://www.rosario.gov.ar/mr/mri/www/city-city-program/town-twinning-agreements |url-status=dead }}
• {{flagicon|USA}} Newport, Rhode Island, United States

{{reflist}}

{{commons category|position=left}}

• [http://www.comune.imperia.it City of Imperia website] {{in lang|it}}
• [http://www.provincia.imperia.it Province of Imperia website] {{in lang|it}}
• [http://www.imperiamare.it/imperiamare/index-e.htm Imperia Mare Association website] {{in lang|it|en|fr}}
• [http://www.museodellolivo.com/eng/index.htm Museo dell' Olivo website] {{in lang|it|en|de|fr}}

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{{Province of Imperia}}

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Category:Coastal towns in Liguria

Category:Municipalities of the Province of Imperia

Category:Italian Riviera