Province of Imperia

The Province of Imperia (, , Ligurian: Provinsa d’Imperia) is a mountainous and hilly province, in the Liguria region of Italy, situated between France to the north and the west, and the Ligurian Sea, an arm of the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Its capital is the city of Imperia. Overview To the east lies the Italian province of Savona while its western edge forms part of Italy's frontier with France (the département of Alpes-Maritimes) and it shares its northern border with the Piedmontese province of Cuneo. The mountain chain to the north of the province has several peaks above , with some peaks on the French border above such as Monte Saccarello at . Ranges of hills run down to the coast in a generally north-south direction, in effect making the province of Imperia a succession of hills and valleys ending at the coast in rocky headlands and small pebbly bays. Each valley tends to have its own seasonal river or torrential stream and only one valley can lay claim to a year-round river - the River Roia (or Roya in French) whose upper stretches are within France. This coast is in an earthquake zone and the deserted ruins of Baiardo and Bussana Vecchia are reminders of the 1887 earthquake. Bussana has become the haunt of hippies and artists. Notwithstanding the terrain, the main communications infrastructure runs east-west along the coast. Several international express trains serve this coast while the motorway is characterised by many tunnels and viaducts. The nearest international airport is Nice Côte d'Azur Airport in France. This stretch of coast shares much sentiment and history with the French coast, which as far as the Var just west of Nice was until 1860 a part of the northern Italian Kingdom of Sardinia and Savoy. Prehistoric cave remains were found near the French border at Balzi Rossi, although there is far more evidence of Roman civilisation. The coast road was the original Roman Via Aurelia and there are remains of a town including a Roman theatre near Ventimiglia. During the early Middle Ages until the 11th or 12th century, this part of the Ligurian coast was subject to various local lords such as the Doria and Grimaldi families and the Counts of Ventimiglia and Clavesana. Many hill-top villages date from this period when the coast was subject to raids from Saracen pirates and evidence of Saracen watchtowers can still be seen along the coast.