Altitude: 149 m a.s.l.
Area: 15 sq km
Distance from Imperia: 54 km
Inhabitants: in 1881: 1705 - in 2017: 238
Patron Saint Day: May 1st - Saints Philip and James
Information: Municipality phone 0184 200027
Airole was donated in 1273 by the patrician from Ventimiglia Fulco Curlo to the Pesio Charterhouse, which sold it in 1435 to the city of Ventimiglia, to which it remained subordinated ever since.
Visit of the town
Park in the first open space on the right at the beginning of the village and go up along the paved road, observing the plaque of 1824 affixed on the right; then arrive to the churchyard of the seventeenth-century parish church of Santi Giacomo e Filippo, which preserves in the first chapel on the left an anonymous seventeenth-century polyptych "I Misteri del Rosario".
From the church, along the central Via Repubblica that continues on Via Madonna, you can reach in a few minutes the Sanctuary of Madonna delle Grazie, where branch off the paths for beautiful excursions to Fanghetto, Libre and Breil sur Roja; from the sanctuary you can enjoy a beautiful view of the village, with its rustic stone houses.
Returning to the parish parvis, turn right and, passing the now abandoned Oratory of San Giovanni Battista (Saint John the Baptist) or "dei Bianchi", go up along Via Roma; past a window-door at number 8, at the junction take the left under the arch reaching the highest part of the village.
Continue keeping the same level and shortly afterwards, going up the few steps of Via Castello on the left, reach the ruins of the original fortification, now completely unrecognizable.
Going back down the stairs take on the left the flight of steps that lead to the window-door you found on the way up; from here return to the churchyard, noticing the sundial on the facade of the house next to the church, and then to the car.
Continuing to go up along State Road 20, after three kilometers you’ll find the village of San Michele, with the church of Sant'Agostino on the right side of the road; shortly after there is the crossroads from which, turning left, you’ll reach Olivetta in a kilometer and a half.