Taggia
Encyclopedia
Taggia is a comune
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

(municipality) in the Province of Imperia
Province of Imperia
The Province of Imperia is a mountainous and hilly province, in the Liguria region of Italy, situated between the Maritime Alps to the north and the Ligurian Sea, an arm of the Mediterranean Sea to the south...

 in the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 region Liguria
Liguria
Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...

, located about 110 km southwest of Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

 and about 15 km west of Imperia. It has c. 13,000 inhabitants.

Taggia borders the following municipalities: Badalucco
Badalucco
Badalucco is a comune in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region Liguria, located about 100 km southwest of Genoa and about 15 km west of Imperia. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,254 and an area of 15.8 km².Badalucco borders the following municipalities:...

, Castellaro
Castellaro
Castellaro is a comune in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region Liguria, located about 100 km southwest of Genoa and about 14 km west of Imperia. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,083 and an area of 8.7 km².Castellaro borders the following municipalities:...

, Ceriana
Ceriana
Ceriana is a comune in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region Liguria, located about 110 km southwest of Genoa and about 20 km west of Imperia. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,262 and an area of ....

, Dolcedo
Dolcedo
Dolcedo is a comune in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region Liguria, located about 100 km southwest of Genoa and about 7 km northwest of Imperia....

, Pietrabruna
Pietrabruna
Pietrabruna is a comune in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region Liguria, located about 100 km southwest of Genoa and about 11 km west of Imperia. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 568 and an area of 9.9 km².Pietrabruna borders the following municipalities:...

, Riva Ligure
Riva Ligure
Riva Ligure is a comune in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region Liguria, located about 110 km southwest of Genoa and about 13 km southwest of Imperia...

, and Sanremo
Sanremo
Sanremo or San Remo is a city with about 57,000 inhabitants on the Mediterranean coast of western Liguria in north-western Italy. Founded in Roman times, the city is best known as a tourist destination on the Italian Riviera. It hosts numerous cultural events, such as the Sanremo Music Festival...

.

Geography

The town is divided into three parts: Taggia proper, the historical centre, in the Valle Argentina; Levà, including the industrial area; and Arma, a sea resort.

History

Tombs dating from the 10th-7th centuries BC have been found in the area of Taggia. During the Roman domination
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 it was an important commercial port, known as Costa Balenae. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....

, the old centre was damaged by the invasion of Rotharis's Lombards
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...

 and then by a landslide in 690
690
Year 690 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 690 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Asia :* Beginning of Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty in China...

. The inhabitants moved to a new walled settlement, called Tabia. Despite its defences, in 889
889
Year 889 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* Yasovarman I succeeds Indravarman II as ruler of the Khmer empire....

 it was sacked and razed to the ground by the Saracens

The rebuilt burgh became in 1153 a fief of the Clavesana family, but soon later it was acquired by the Republic of Genoa
Republic of Genoa
The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....

. In 1273 it became an autonomous commune, later receiving a podestà named in Genoa, under which it remained until its disappearing in the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

. Later it was part of the Kingdom of Sardinia
Kingdom of Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia consisted of the island of Sardinia first as a part of the Crown of Aragon and subsequently the Spanish Empire , and second as a part of the composite state of the House of Savoy . Its capital was originally Cagliari, in the south of the island, and later Turin, on the...

 (1815) and of the Kingdom of Italy (1861).

Main sights

  • Basilica of San Giacomo and San Filippo (1675-1681), edificated on a 11th century Romanesque church.
  • Church of Santa Maria del Canneto (10th or 14th century).
  • Church of San Martino di Tours, housing 15th century frescoes.
  • Convent of San Domenico (160-1490). It has some pictures painted by Ludovico Brea
    Ludovico Brea
    Ludovico Brea was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active mainly in and near Genoa.Brea was born into a family of coopers in Nice, and later moving to Liguria, he painted numerous altarpieces that displayed both Lombardy and Flemish influences...

    .
  • Palazzo Asdente (1473).
  • Palazzo Curlo (1448).
  • Palazzo Vivaldi (1458).

Transport

Taggia is situated on the Via Aurelia
Via Aurelia
The Via Aurelia was a Roman road in Italy constructed around the year 241 BC. The project was undertaken by C. Aurelius Cotta, who at that time was censor...

 (now a provincial road). It has also a gate on the A10 Highway.

Taggia has a railways station on the Genoa-Ventimiglia
Ventimiglia
Ventimiglia is a city and comune in Liguria, northern Italy, in the province of Imperia. It is located southwest of Genoa by rail, and 7 km from the French-Italian border, on the Gulf of Genoa, having a small harbour at the mouth of the Roia River, which divides the town into two parts...

line.

External links




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