HIKING AND ROUTES
HISTORY - NATURE
ALBENGA

WALK THE ROMAN ROAD:
you walk in the footsteps of Emperor Augustus retracing the ancient Roman Road that since the first century BC linking Rome to Spain in one of the most picturesque routes of the Riviera di Ponente between Albenga and Alassio. In terse days Mistral can enjoy beautiful landscapes on Natural Park of Gallinara Island, gathering for wild fruits that the walk offers: wild berries, medlars, figs during almost the whole summer immersed in the ruins of "Albingaunium."
Recommended Path: climbing up to the Roman funerary monument (Pilone) from Punta S. Martino d'Albenga you walk three km. up and walk halfway through the incomparable views between natural beauty, ancient Roman tombs, remains of pavement and an ancient Roman church of Santa Anna finally reaching the fascinating church of St. Cross built by the Benedictine monks of Gallinara and the walk George Byron where the intrepid English poet dug for a long time looking for a fabulous treasure that should remain buried there.

CENTER TOWN:
Piazza S. Michele is the heart of the historic centre, where the Cathedral overlooks with its bell tower, one of the most interesting monuments late Gothic and containing interesting works of art as well a monumental body of the nineteenth century. Do not miss the Baptistery plan external decagonal dating back to fifth century. AD, the Palazzo Vecchio of Municipality (host of interesting Museum Ingauno) the fourteenth century., Piazzetta dei Leoni dominated by Palazzo Costa (today Bishopric), XV and XVI and the Palazzo Peloso Cepolla which hosts the XVII ' Important Naval Museum Romano. The Museum presents a section of underwater archaeology, not to be missed, which arose following the discovery of a Roman tribute ship sank in I sec. BC on the seabed off the island Gallinara. The objects recovered are outlined here and include the remains of the hull, a large number of wine amphorae and some doliola, large earthenware containers coming, along with other artefacts, from other Roman shipwrecks found on the seabed in the area.

THE HINTERLAND
Dozens of medieval villages, wildlife, the largest caves of Europe, mountains and forests where you can still admire the abundant flora and wildlife. buzzards and pheasants, hawks and some rare specimens of golden eagle. And yet beech-marten and wild boar, deer and foxes that roam freely among olive trees and chestnut, more and raspberries, figs and wild medlar, ideal and fertile soil for the growth of mushrooms, mushrooms, tacks, field mushrooms, agaric and so on between the valleys Arroscia and Neva. And yet events and festivals (Pigato, Peaches and Wild Boar the most famous ones where you can taste the countless local specialties accompanied by wines typical of the area, including the Pigato wine, the prince of Albenga’s wines of the area and Rossese among those red) , Historical and culinary.
Routes recommended by motor: taking the direction Highway, pass it and head towards Cisano sul Neva, fortified by Albenga centre where they are visible medieval walls and towers, including the best known "Tower of Saracens", another Roman funerary monument. Do not miss two kilometres away the Castle of Conscente.
Back to Cisano continue towards the village of Zuccarello, one of the most important and best preserved examples of medieval architecture built by one of the most important families of the times, Del Carretto. From here the journey continues to Castelvecchio Rocca Barbena, whose castle was built in the eleventh century by Clavesana first and by Marquis Del Carretto then.
From here you can contemplate one of the most beautiful landscapes in the Ligurian hinterland.
From Castelvecchio of R.B. you have two options: to continue towards the fresh mountain site Bardineto and Calizzano, or falling back towards Balestrino and Toirano, amazing medieval centre where you can admire one of the oldest and certainly most extended caves of Europe. A real beauty not to be missed.
From Bardineto, known centre for the collection of mushrooms, you can still return to Toirano, while from Calizzano the path becomes a little more tortuous and finally down towards the sea, thirty km. from Albenga.
Toirano: it deserves a mention apart from this small village that traces its origins to the Stone Age, then continue up to the Roman, Byzantine and then to the Middle Ages, in a historical continuity that has few similarities.
The main attraction of Toirano are over 50 natural caves and the principal ones are the Bàsura Cave, the Caves of St. Lucia and Lower and Upper Cave of Colombo. These caves gave refuge for thousands of years to the bear caves and prehistoric man of the Upper Palaeolithic, whose bone remains are still clearly visible, together with imprints of legs and feet on the ground, nails, hands and knees on the walls.
Long 1,300 mt. approx., the Caves presents an extraordinary formations of thin crystals of aragonite and some of them hold huge stalactites that can be admired in the various natural groundwater halls. The most important are the Hall of the Crystals, Morelli, Pond, the Pantheon and the Hall of the Capitals. During the journey a great cast of alabaster, lithic tools attributed to the Neanderthal and other key testimonies of human occupation from the Lower Paleolithic to the Neolithic, are some of the countless wonders who may encounter.
The town retains two of the five portals, houses, arcades and loggias and still a medieval tower. Interesting the ethnographic museum where there are exposed gears and tools belonging to the civilization and craftsmanship, as well as a rich collection of tools included in reconstruction environments of the eighteenth-nineteenth century.