This article is about the Italian city. For the music festival held annually in the city, seeSanremo Music Festival. For the 2020 Slovenian drama film, seeSanremo (film).
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While it is often stated in modern folk stories that Sanremo is named after a legendarySaint Remus, the name of the city is actually a phonetic contraction ofSant'Eremo di San Romolo ("HolyHermitage of Saint Romulus"), which refers toRomulus of Genoa, the successor toSyrus of Genoa. InLigurian, its name isSan Reumo orSan Reumoro.
The non-univerbated spellingSan Remo features on ancient maps ofLiguria and maps of theRepublic of Genoa, Medieval Italy, theKingdom of Sardinia, and theKingdom of Italy; it was used in 1924 in official documents underMussolini. This form of the name, now superseded bySanremo both officially and in common usage, still appears on some road signs and, more rarely, in unofficial tourist information.
Once the Roman settlement ofMatutia orVilla Matutiana, Sanremo expanded in the earlyMiddle Ages when the population moved to the high grounds. The nobility built a castle and the walled village of La Pigna to protect the town fromSaracen raids.
At first subjected to the countship ofVentimiglia, the community later passed under the dominion of theGenoese bishops. In 1297 they sold it to theDoria and De Mari families. It became a free town in the second half of the 15th century, after which it expanded to the Pigna hill and at Saint Syrus Cathedral. The almost perfectly preserved old village remains.
Sanremo remained independent of theGenoese Republic. In 1753, after 20 years of fierce conflicts, it rose against Genoese hegemonical attempts. At that time Genoa built the fortress of Santa Tecla, situated on the beach near the port. The fortress was used as a prison until 2002. It is now used as a museum.
After the French domination and theSavoy restoration in 1814, Sanremo was annexed to theKingdom of Sardinia. From the middle of the 18th century, the town grew rapidly, in part due to the development of tourism, which saw the first grand hotels built and the town extended along the coast. TheEmpress "Sissi" of Austria, EmpressMaria Alexandrovna of Russia, and EmperorNicholas II of Russia took vacations in Sanremo, while Swedish chemistAlfred Nobel made it his permanent home.
TheSan Remo conference, 19–26 April 1920, of the post-World War I Allied Supreme Council determined the allocation of Class "A" League of Nations mandates for the administration of the former Ottoman-ruled lands of the Middle East by the victorious powers. The most notable of these was theBritish Mandate of Palestine.
In 1972, the first public demonstration for the defence of the dignity and rights of gay people in Italy took place in Sanremo in protest against an international congress on sexual deviance organized by the Catholic-inspired Italian Center for Sexology.[4]
Sanremo'sMediterranean climate and attractive seacoast setting on theItalian Riviera make it a popular tourist destination. Besides tourism, the city is active in the production of extra virgin-gradeolive oil, whose regional"designation of origin" is protected (D.O.P.,Denominazione di Origine Protetta). It is one of the agricultural commodities in westernLiguria and in particular within the province ofImperia. Sanremo is known as the City of Flowers (la Città dei Fiori), this being another important aspect of the economy of the city. The nearby towns ofArma di Taggia,Bordighera andOspedaletti are also involved in the cultivation of flowers for the international flower market.
The MunicipalCasino, built in 1905, is an example ofArt Nouveau building. TheAriston Theatre offers an annual series of concerts, operas and theatre plays. The Symphony Orchestra is one of twelve symphony orchestras recognized by the state of Italy; it performs some 120 concerts throughout the year, most in the Municipal Casino's Opera Theatre.
The city is connected toGenoa and toVentimiglia, the border city withFrance, by theA10 motorway, whose last part is also known as theAutostrada dei Fiori ("Motorway of Flowers"). It has a large number of elevated sections with viaducts that give a panoramic view of the coast. The A10 joins the FrenchA8 highway at the border between Ventimiglia andMenton. Together these national routes are part of theEuropean route E80. The A10 motorway is atoll road, and the A8 demands a toll in sections, and some sections are free of charge. When travelling from Italy into France, one does not pay until after the towns of Menton and Monaco.
Other roads of importance are the SS1, the "Aurelia Bis", which connects Sanremo toTaggia. This is a non-tollbypass route. The coast road is thevia Aurelia or SS1 and follows the route of a Roman road. This can be heavily congested when it passes through towns, as it has only one lane in either direction for most of the way around Sanremo. Atrolleybus line along the via Aurelia links Sanremo with both Taggia and Ventimiglia.
Therailway line used to be along the coast, running close to the sea, and providing a view for travellers. The line has been moved further north and underground, which allows for faster trains;Sanremo railway station was relocated next to the City Hall. The city has refurbished the old railway line and converted it into a bike route and pedestrian area. There are several bike hire kiosks along the route and a choice of beaches to visit in either direction from San Remo. The path stretches 24 km (15 mi) between Ospedaletti in the west andSan Lorenzo al Mare in the east.[5]
TheAriston Theatre hosts the celebrated annualSanremo Music Festival, which has been held in the city since 1951. This festival inspired theEurovision Song Contest, which started in 1956, and has often been used to select the Italian entry for the European contest. The internationally notable song "Nel blu, dipinto di blu", popularly known as "Volare", was performed at this festival for the first time byDomenico Modugno in 1958. The festival is so popular among Italians that it is often referred to simply as "Il Festival" (The Festival). Other events include the Tenco Prize (autumn), a song contest for authors dedicated to the memory ofLuigi Tenco; the Flowers Parade in January/February in which every city of the Italian Riviera presents an original composition of flowers displayed on a Carnival/Mardi-Gras style moving car; and the summer Firework International Contest in the second week of August also calledFerragosto.[citation needed]
TheSanremo Casino (Casino Municipale di Sanremo) opened in 1905 and has operated continuously since then with the exception of the years ofWorld War II. For much of its history, the casino was tolerated or granted exceptions to Italian gambling laws in order to allow the resort to compete with the casino towns in nearbyFrance andMonaco.
Sanremo is the finish of theclassicMilan–San Remo cycle race. It is considered to be a "monument" – one of the five most important one-day races of the cycling season. Milan – San Remo is traditionally held in March and is one of the first major fixtures of the cycling season. It is usually the longest professional one-day race in the cycling season, giving the race a unique character. From 1999 to 2005, a women's race, thePrimavera Rosa, was organized alongside the men's but at a shorter distance.[10] From 2025, a women's race (Milan–San Remo Women) will be held as part of theUCI Women's World Tour.[11]
The Venerable Giorgio Baldassarre Oppezzi, a monk who died in 1525, and whose body, it is claimed, was later discovered to beincorrupt, is buried here in the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli.[citation needed]
Edward Lear, English artist, illustrator and writer known for his nonsense poetry and limericks, lived and died in Sanremo. His tombstone is in the Foce Cemetery.
Alfred Nobel bought a villa in Sanremo in 1891 and died there in 1896.[12] Since 2002 it has housed a permanent exhibit on the most important discoveries of the 19th century including the research interests of Nobel himself. Sanremo continues to maintain its ties with Nobel, long after his death. Each 10 December (the date that Nobel died in 1896) large quantities of flowers sent by the province of Imperia, the city of Sanremo and the Board for Tourist Promotion of the Riviera dei fiori adorn the annual Nobel Prize Award Ceremony and Banquet in Stockholm.
Fausto Zonaro, the last Court Painter to theOttoman Empire, died in San Remo on 19 July 1929. He was buried with public honours in La Foce cemetery. On his gravestone, underneath an Ottomantughra, it states that Zonaro was the court painter of the Ottoman Empire.
The writerTobias Smollett stayed a few days in Sanremo in 1765 and described it thus: "St. Remo is a pretty considerable town, well-built upon the declivity of a gently rolling hill...There is very little plain ground in this neighbourhood; but the hills are covered with oranges, lemons, pomegranates and olives....The women of St. Remo are much more handsome and better tempered than those of Provence."Travels Through France and Italy(1766).
Empress Maria Alexandrovna, consort ofAlexander II of Russia, spent the winter of 1874 in Sanremo and as a gift to the city she donated the palms along the seaside walk of Corso Imperatrice (Empress Avenue).
Italian writerItalo Calvino spent his youth in Sanremo and many of his novels, includingIl Barone Rampante, are reminiscent of his attachment to the city.
The Sicilian playwright and Nobel Prize winnerLuigi Pirandello lived in Sanremo in 1933–34 and was appointed artistic director of the Casino.
