"The place is superb, there is a bridge that is a jewel of lightness."
It has been a long time since the impressionist painter. Claude Monet, visiting Dolceacqua in 1884, was enchanted by the place and its Old Bridge to a single arch, but the village still fascinates by its beauty all those who go up the Nervia Valley.
With its tall, narrow houses leaning against each other, its narrow carruggi, and the mighty castle Dolceacqua is reminiscent of what many Ligurian towns must have looked like before the post-World War II tourist boom.
During the guided tour, we will step back into the past, to the time when this ancient fiefdom of the Counts of Ventimiglia was purchased in the 13th century by Oberto Doria, becoming a bloody theater of battles between Guelphs and Ghibellines, and between the Dorias and the Grimaldis of Monaco. The disputes were so violent that in 1524 Dolceacqua came under the protection of the Savoys. During these turbulent years, the feudal lords were responsible for numerous abuses against the people, the most feared of which was the jus primae noctisimposed by the imperial tyrant Doria on young brides. It was not until 1364 that a popular uprising put an end to this injustice, permanently cancelling this unjust right.
Before ending the visit, you can also taste the michetta, a typical cake that, during the village festival, girls cheerfully distribute to boys to commemorate the abolition of the jus primae noctis.
A visit to Dolceacqua is also a time to sample inland cuisine and the rossese wine, produced from the vines grown on the sunny terraces of the Nervia Valley.
La guided tour of Dolceacqua Can be combined with:
- guided tour of Pigna to complete the Nervia Valley
- guided tour of Apricale
- guided tour of Bordighera
- guided tour of San Remo
- guided tour of the gardens of Villa Hanbury
- guided tour of Ventimiglia
or it can be included within our trekking in the Nervia Valley.
