Altitude: 57 m a.s.l.
Area: 20 sq km
Distance from Imperia: 47 km
Inhabitants: in 1881: 2331 - in 2017: 2100
Patron Saint Day: January 17th - Saint Anthony Abbot
Information: Municipality phone 0184 206444
Already flourishing after the year 1000 with the name of "Dulzana" under the dominion of the Counts of Ventimiglia, Dolceacqua was conquered in 1140 by the Republic of Genoa which in 1270 sold it to the Ghibelline Oberto Doria, founder of the dynasty that for centuries would dominate the valley.
Like the other small noblemen of the time, even the Dorias of Dolceacqua to retain power had to rely on much more important Lords and were thus vassals of the Anjou of Provence at the beginning of the fourteenth century, and of the Savoys from 1524.
At the outbreak of the Great War of 1625 between the Savoys and Genoa, however, the Dorias sided with the latter, and Dolceacqua paid the betrayal by suffering a siege and reconquest by the Piedmontese in 1634.
Promoted to be a Savoy marquisate in 1652, in 1745 the town suffered a new decisive siege by the French-Spanish troops allied of Genoa who, equipped with the revolutionary explosive projectile guns with a range of more than two kilometers (versus the thousand meters of the inert projectile ones of the besieged), demolished the castle, whose ruins were then bequeathed to the Municipality by the last descendants of the Dorias in 1942.
Visit of the town
The medieval town of Dolceacqua is certainly among the most spectacular historical centers of the entire Ligurian west, also celebrated with four paintings by the impressionist Claude Monet.
Just before reaching the built-up area you’ll encounter, on the right side of the Provincial Road at the graveyard, the church of San Giorgio, built around the year 1000 with a single nave and then enlarged several times: in the Romanesque period with three naves, in the Gothic period again with a single nave and finally rebuilt in Baroque style; the restorations have exemplary highlighted on the façade, which preserves the ancient single-light window in the center of the original building, the repeated renovations.
The bell tower is of the year 1000 up to the attic; the roof of the church dates back to the fourteenth century, with the trusses of the internal beams decorated with rosettes and polychrome lozenges.
Peeking through the crack in the door you can see the inside, with the classic stone seats along the walls and the high staircase that rises to the two sides of the altar, located above the vault of the underlying crypt; in its central part the staircase, instead of going up, goes down to the Romanesque crypt that was rebuilt in the sixteenth century, which preserves the remains of Stefano (1580) and Giulio (1608) Doria, depicted in arms in the bas-relief decorating their respective tombstones.
Back to the car you’ll reach the town, which offers you the view of the intact medieval core dominated by the castle and enriched at the bottom by the elegant arch of the bridge. Turn right at the root of the medieval bridge immediately before the Memorial to the Fallen and, passing to the left of the church, go down to the parking lot. From there you’ll see above the castle on the rock overlooking you, on the right the bridge, in front of you the medieval village and to the left the vineyards of the well-known Rossese wine.
Walk up the ramp; if you turn right in about fifty meters you’ll find on the right the modest Pinacoteca Morscio, which preserves paintings of contemporary painters; if instead you turn left passing in front of the Baroque chapel of San Filippo Neri, you’ll walk on the cobblestones of Ponte Vecchio, the bridge that crosses the Nervia stream with a single arch of 33 meters, built in the fifteenth century to replace the previous two-arched bridge of which the shoulder and the base of the central pillar remain.
Arriving to the modern fresco, take the left under the vault, venturing among the archaic houses of the small widening, where you can see the aedicule behind which the obscure medieval archivolts open; proceed straight ahead and then go along Via Castello under the slender arches that support the tall stone houses of the alley.
Enter under the vault on the right following the signs to the “Mostra Artigianale”: at the widening with a fountain take the ramp on the right and then again the right; past the graceful stone bridge you’ll arrive at the old oil mill with the millstones and the original presses in which is set the store that sells household items in olive wood. Following the repeated signs from there reach the nearby "Visionarium", a small room in which an extraordinary three-dimensional naturalistic show is projected.
Going back, after descending the ramp that concludes Via San Biagio, climb to the right the steep Cassini alley, squeezed between the tall stone houses propped up by small arches, which, past the vault, leads to the central Via Doria which you will ascend. After passing the window-door of an ancient shop, continue past the fountain with the local oil and wine shop on the left, noticing the two slits that open on the house on the left under the last arch.
Affixed above the number 33 there is a small black stone aedicule with floral decorations; on the opposite wall there is a loophole followed by two others in the next widening at the foot of the Doria castle. If from the clearing you take a few steps beyond the mighty arch of the gate, looking to the right beyond the stream you will have the surprise of seeing a house that smiles at you.
After withdrawing the ticket and past the gate with the Doria crest, climb the ramp protected towards the valley by the low stone wall with loopholes, noticing the other slits at the base of the quadrangular tower next to the bridge that replaces the original one, a drawbridge above the excavated ditch in front of the gate.
The castle was built on this highly strategic position in the first century after the year 1000 with the round tower in the center, and then underwent several expansions including the addition of the fifteenth-century buttressed bastion to the east, of the two lateral towers and of the front part. Between 1442 and 1565 the Dorias gradually transformed the original rustic fortress into their sumptuous fortified residence, building the premises whose ruins you have in front of you (beyond the stage) with halls frescoed by Cambiaso.
The initial atrium communicates with the side premises of the guardhouse and stables; in the village they say that from the right one starts an underground secret passage that goes down to the bank of the Nervia. Enter into the large cobblestone courtyard , where are preserved the fifteenth-century fountain with terracotta spout to the left, and to the right the wall on which open the large windows overlooking the village; there stands the mighty circular tower, which was the first fortification of the complex that was gradually built around it.
Climb the wide steps above the fountain; after the second ramp turn right to see, on the steps next to the circular tower, the fragments of the colorful majolica tiles that give us a vague idea of the splendor of the Doria residence, whose ruins are forbidden to access because unsafe. Continuing to climb the steps on the left, come to the clearing that communicates with the two towers, connected by a wall entirely perforated by simple slits, while the one on the left that overlooks the town has a series of triple slits, elegant and functional.
From both towers there is a truly dizzying view of the cliff below you overlooking the river; the same one that opened under the feet of those who managed to build these walls with the means of that time, carrying each stone on their shoulders up there and taking a risk at every step to put it in its place and thus realize such a daring work.
Go back to the village, and upon reaching the wine shop (a taste of Rossese is a must), take the ramp on the right (Via Cima) and then continue to the right under the vaults passing next to the two slits on the right and, a little further on, to the arch of the staircase that crosses the adjacent alley. After the slate-roof aedicule go down to the left along Via Rocca, thus venturing into the oldest part of the village with houses built in drywall technique practically stone over stone; at the small fountain go down to the left between arches and vaults and continue to go down along the cobblestone steps continuing below the vaults now artificially lit.
Arriving at the crossroads, turn left on the central Via Doria through the ogival stone arch, one of the oldest gates of the town, which still preserves at the top of the internal jamb the massive stone suitably shaped to accommodate its hinge.
You are now on Via Doria at two wine and typical local products shops; from there continue to the right until the end of the descent, where you’ll take on the left the ramp with stone portals with an ogival arch that leads to the large just restored churchyard. There stands the church of Sant'Antonio Abate built in the fifteenth century but later completely rebuilt in the Baroque period and further enlarged in the late nineteenth century; the bell tower is actually a tower that was part of the outer walls, adapted to the new use in 1621.
Inside, the church shines with the gold of the stuccoes and preserves a painting by Giovanni da Montorfano of the second half of the fifteenth century and the polyptych "Santa Devota con santi" of 1515 by Ludovico Brea. Leaving the church turn right; in front of you at the end of the square is the eighteenth-century noble palace in which the Doria family moved in 1745 after the destruction of the castle.
The building, with black stone portals, has richly frescoed apartments and is still equipped with the private passage that leads directly to the church, to the small stage on the left aisle from which the Dorias could follow the functions without mingling with the common people.
From the churchyard you can return to the car either by following the bright riverfront and then passing next to the mill reconstructed in homage to Pier Vincenzo Mela, or by going in front of the church under the vaults of Via Rebaudi for a last dive in the darkest Middle Ages. The whole street passes under the dark vaults that take light from the windows that open to the left on the riverfront and leads to the widening with a fountain which has welcomed you at the beginning of your visit.
Back to the car, continue along the Provincial Road until you encounter after a kilometer and a half the detour that leads to Rocchetta Nervina.