At Camporosso, up the Nervia, is a little church of the early part of the twelfth century, now serving as chapel to the cemetery. It has apse and tower of this period; the rest has been rebuilt. It is constructed of rolled stones from the river-bed. The roof consists of slabs of nummulite limestone.
Above Camporosso on the Nervia is Dolceacqua.
"After winding through woods of olives, carpeted in spring by young corn and bright green flax, Dolceacqua suddenly bursts upon the view, stretching across a valley, whose sides are covered with forests of olives and chestnuts, and which is backed by fine snow mountains. Through the town winds the deep blue stream of the Nervia, flowing under a tall bridge of one wide arch, and above frowns the huge palatial castle, perched upon a perpendicular cliff, with sunlight streaming through its long lines of glassless windows. The streets are almost closed in with archways, which give them the look of gloomy crypts, only opening here and there to let
in a ray of sunlight and a strip of blue sky. They lead up the steep ascent to the castle where the Doria once reigned as sovereign princes."[1]
An electric tram connects Ventimiglia with Bordighera. This latter place is unceremoniously dismissed by Hare in these words: "The town contains nothing worth seeing." The statement is certainly incorrect. Old Bordighera contains a good deal that is worth seeing—the quaint town gates, the steep and picturesque streets, and the glorious view from the little piazza before the churoh. There also by the seaside is the chapel of S. Ampelio with its cave, in which the apostle of the district lived and died.
Little authentic is known of S. Ampelio, for there is no early life of him extant. Tradition says that he
- ↑ Hare, Cities of Northern Italy i. p. 34.
