Victorian Bordighera
Historically Bordighera has a special affinity the British, being one of those key spots that wealthy Victorians liked to visit to enjoy long seasons of warm mediteranean sunshine.
Bordighera has its own special microclimate that means the winters are warm over here. This touristic 'colonization' of Bordighera, was largely due to the publication of a book in 1855, entitled 'Doctor Antonio' by Giovanni Ruffini, which enjoyed widespread popularity at the time.
This work of fiction told the story of an Italian revolutionary forced to decide between his love for the daughter of an English aristocrat and his cause (fighting for the unification of Italy).
Like Peter Mayle's seminal memoir, 'A Year In Provence'; 'Doctor Antonio' - originally written to secure British support for Italian Unification - had a knock-on effect; capturing the hearts and imagination of its British readers. The book had them flocking to the region in droves.
As a result, Bordighera rapidly become an exclusive, first-class residential resort, competing with Nice and Menton.
The Victorians created a real British centre here, with their own banks, agencies, shops, sport-clubs and cultural centres; establishing an Anglican Church, the theatre ("Victoria Hall") as well as a weekly paper in English - and imbuing the place with an atmosphere of elegance and refinement to the area. The impressionist painter, Claude Monet, spent the first few months of 1884 painting Bordighera in all its many and ever-shifting light conditions, having been introduced to this part of the Riviera by his friend Renoir the year before.
Bordighera today
Whilst the Bordighera of the 21st Century has changed significantly since the early days, (the sprawling new town was built over the gardens of French consul and wealthy olive oil merchant, Francesco Moreno shortly after his death in 1885) there are still large pockets that seemed to evolve from a different era. Of course, many of the of the grand houses from that late Victorian period still survive today, (some of the best examples can be seen along the Via Romana) but places like the old town with its narrow, cobbled streets, stone archways and silent squares is very atmospheric, and even the streets of the new town house cafes and shops whose interiors seem to date them to eras anywhere between 30 and 80 years years old.
A weekly general market takes place along the seafront promenade every Thursday between 7.00am-1.30pm and is well worth a visit for Italian silk, leather and cashmere goods at competitive prices.