1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/San Remo

SAN REMO, a seaport of Liguria, Italy, in the province of Porto Maurizio, on the Riviera di Ponente, 9¾ m. E. of Ventimiglia by rail, and 84 m. S.W. of Genoa. Pop. (1901) 17,114 (town); 20,027 (commune). Climbing the slope of a steep hill it looks south over a small bay, and, protected towards the north by hills rising gradually from 500 to 8000 ft., it is in climate one of the most favoured places on the whole coast, a fact which accounts for the great reputation as a winter resort which it has enjoyed since 1861. The older town, with its narrow steep streets and lofty sombre houses protected against earthquakes by arches connecting them, contrasts with the new visitors' town, containing all the public buildings, which has grown up at the foot of the hill. The fort of S. Tecla protects the small harbour, sheltered by its sickle-shaped mole, 1300 ft. long. The promenade of San Remo is the Corso dell' Imperatrice, running from the main street, the Via Vittorio Emanuele, along the coast to the Giardino dell' Imperatrice; it is a broad road shaded by palm-trees, and was, like the garden, constructed at the expense of the empress Maria Alexandrovna of Russia (d. 1880). The Villa Thiem has a valuable picture-gallery, containing for the most part examples of the great 17th-century masters of the Netherlands. Besides the Gothic ex-cathedral of San Siro, the white-domed church of the Madonna della Costa, at the top of the old town, may be mentioned. In front of it is a large hospital. On the east of the harbour, the promenade along the coast is called the Passeggiata Imperatore Federico in memory of the German emperor Frederick, whose visit to the town in 1887–1888 greatly increased its repute as a winter resort. Flowers, especially roses and carnations, are extensively grown for export, and olives, lemons and palms are also cultivated.

San Remo appears to have been dependent on Genoa in its early days, but became independent in 1361. In 1544 the town was attacked by Barbarossa, and in 1625 by the French and Savoyards. The Genoese, against whose encroachments it had long defended its independence, subjugated it in 1753; in 1797 it was incorporated in the Ligurian republic, and in 1814 passed to Piedmont.