Albenga is an example, unique in Liguria, of urban continuity: Romanity, the Middle Ages and modern times. The city can be visited in half a day, but even better in a full day if the guided tour includes its interesting museums.
Albenga was the ancient capital of the powerful Ligurian tribe of the Ingauni, from which it took the name of Albium Ingaunum. Albenga boasts a perfectly preserved historic center, with medieval towers and palaces lined along the ancient hinge e decumanus Romans.
The Little Square of Lions, adorned with three stone lions, forms a charming and romantic corner of the Middle Ages.
La Cathedral, a building of Romanesque origins that has been remodeled several times, preserves valuable sculptures and a late Gothic bell tower with mullioned and three-mullioned windows.
The Baptistery (5th cent.), one of the most important early Christian monuments in northern Italy, holds a splendid mosaic Trinitarian-Christological coeval with the great mosaic cycles of Ravenna.
The Roman Naval Museum, housed in Palazzo Peloso Cepolla, preserves artifacts that were part of the wreckage of a roman honorary ship Found at a depth of 42 meters one mile off the coast.
Among fishing tools, helmets, and items of personal use for the crew, there is a reproduction of the hull containing some of the thousands of amphorae From wine transported by ship.
The Oddo Palace hosts Magical Transparencies, a rich display of Roman glass artifacts among which stands out a unique piece, the precious Blue Plate dating back to the second century AD. The collection has nearly 200 pieces that can be dated between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD; these include both everyday objects and objects of value.
The ancient Bishop's Palace of Albenga is the elegant home of the Diocesan Museum, a collection of sacred art spanning more than 1,000 years of history.
Albenga rises in the center of a wide bay of high naturalistic and scenic value in front of the’Gallinara Island, splendid nature reserve. The island, which owes its name to the presence of wild hens in Roman times, is now one of the major nesting sites for herring gulls.
Not only does Albenga boast a history dating back thousands of years and the presence of a natural marine reserve, but it is also the center of the Albenga Plain, the flagship of agriculture in Liguria. The products of the plain include four presidia slow food that delight every foodie: violet asparagus, trumpet zucchini, spiny artichoke, and oxheart tomato.
A visit to Albenga is also an opportunity for a delicious food and wine experience.
We can arrange tastings with you at local wineries and oil mills, as well as cooking class experiences of Ligurian cuisine.
The guided tour of Albenga you can fit within the following routes:
- pre-Roman cities in western Liguria: Vado Sabatia, Albingaunum (Albenga), Albintimilium (Ventimiglia)
- Middle Ages in Liguria: Noli, Finalborgo
- trekking the Via Julia Augusta from Albenga to Alassio or vice versa
- Albenga and its hinterland: guided tour of Castelvecchio di Rocca Barbena, Zuccarello and Villanova
- Trekking: Ilaria's trail from Zuccarello to Castelvecchio.
