Finale Ligure | |
|---|---|
| Comune di Finale Ligure | |
 A frescoed gate in Finale Ligure | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Finale Ligure Location of Finale Ligure in Italy Show map of Italy Finale Ligure Finale Ligure (Liguria) Show map of Liguria | |
| Coordinates:44°10′17″N8°20′40″E / 44.17139°N 8.34444°E /44.17139; 8.34444 | |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Liguria |
| Province | Savona (SV) |
| Frazioni | Gorra, Olle,Varigotti,Calvisio,Perti, San Bernardino, le Mànie, Selva, Verzi, Monticello |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Ugo Frascherelli |
| Area | |
• Total | 34.59 km2 (13.36 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
| Population | |
• Total | 11,638 |
| • Density | 336.5/km2 (871.4/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Finalesi |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 17024 |
| Dialing code | 019 |
| Patron saint | St. John the Baptist |
| Saint day | June 24 |
| Website | Official website |
Finale Ligure (Ligurian:O Finâ, locallyFinô;Latin:Finarium) is acomune on theGulf of Genoa, in theprovince of Savona, inLiguria, Italy. It is considered part of theItalian Riviera. Part of its historical center ("Finalborgo") is one ofI Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy").[4]
Known for its white sand beaches and its views, Finale Ligure is located directly adjacent to the Rock of Caprazoppa, a steep limestone mountain on the southwest, and much of the town extends up hill slopes. The town has a lively commercial district. The boardwalk is lined withpalm trees and many restaurants from the adjacent street have located large, open-air dining rooms along it.
The town of Finale Ligure is nominally divided into three "boroughs". Finale Ligure Marina (Finalmarina) is the main seaside part of the town, most frequented by tourists, whileFinale Pia (Finalpia) is the traditional center of the town, where aBenedictine abbey still stands. Finalborgo, the third borough and located further inland, consists of an old walled medieval town built at the junction of two streams: Aquila andPora.
Finale Ligure has furthermore somefrazioni:Varigotti, an appreciated and characteristic seaside holiday destination, which was an important port in Roman and Byzantine times; Perti, also an ancient center with Roman and Medieval ruins, up into theentroterra (interior); Le Manie (e Magne in local dialect), a plateau partly cultivated, partly left to pine forest and Mediterranean Bush; Gorra, a panoramic hamlet along the steep road to the Alpine forests ofMelogno pass; San Bernardino, a recent set of buildings and residences on the top of the hill overlooking Finale Marina.
The territory surrounding Finale is known as "Il Finale", and not "Il Finalese" as sometimes wrongly spelled; it is made up of limestone plateaus and canyons which host a significant biodiversity and important remains of Roman and Medieval times.
Caves attesting the presence of human settlements in the area as early as theNeolithic age have been found. During theRoman times, the burgh of Finale was known asAd Fines ("On the Border"), as it marked the boundary between two of the mainLigurian tribes: theSabatii in the east, and theIntemelii in the west.
In Roman times the area hosted a road and post station namedPollupex (Pollupice, in Italian) along thevia Julia Augusta; it is supposed that it was situated where nowadays thefrazione ofCalvisio stands. Important was in those times also the port ofVaricottis (Varigotti), now interred, as were the fortifications in Perti (Castrum Perticae, active to the Middle Ages), later integrated into the Byzantine lines against theOstrogoths andLombards.
The first document citing the town is from 967, when it was included in the Marca Aleramica created byEmperor Otto I. Later a possession ofBonifacio Del Vasto, it was inherited by the Del Carretto who made it the base of a powerful Marquisate which they enlarged absorbing the neighbouring fiefs, and which raised the hostility of theRepublic of Genoa. After various disputes, in 1385 the Del Carretto were compelled to cede most of their lands to the Genoese; their rule was however not well accepted, and a true war ensued in 1447–48, which ended with a Genoese victory.
In 1496Alfonso I del Carretto obtained the investiture of the whole marquisate by EmperorMaximilian I, later confirmed byCharles V. In 1558, however, the misgovernment ofAlfonso II Del Carretto created attrition with the population, with the encroachment of Genoa, which claimed new lands from the Emperor. The Spanish governor ofMilan therefore occupied Finale in 1571, and the town passed under the Spanish rule in 1602.
The Marquisate was acquired by the Republic of Genoa in 1713, being confirmed in the possession by thePeace of Aix-la-Chapelle of 1748. The town became part of theKingdom of Sardinia in 1815 and of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. At that time the Finale area was divided in several smallComuni: Finalborgo (formerly known as Finario),[5] Finalmarina,Finalpia, Gorra, Perti,Calvisio,Varigotti. Between 1869 and 1877, a time of administrative reforms, only the three Finales survived after swallowing their smaller neighbors amidst recriminations. It was theFascist regime, bent on creating widerComuni, to eventually unify these townships in the Comune of Finale Ligure in 1927.[6]
The town is connected by various roads (mainly the SS1, orvia Aurelia), the A10 highway Genova-Ventimiglia (exit "Finale Ligure"), and a double-track rail line. The city offers also a service of public transportation, TPL (Trasporto Pubblico Locale nella Provincia di Savona, that connects the whole province ofSavona.[7]
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Finale Ligure travel guide from Wikivoyage
Media related toFinale Ligure at Wikimedia Commons| International | |
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