Log book

A light wind blows from the little harbour of Bordighera and the waves break on the rocks without creating complications for fishermen. In this maritime setting Patrizio is together with Cristiana Dulbecco, representing Imperia council. She will be the guide that will illustrate the various aspects, from the more technical ones to the more cultural ones, of the local tourist harbour.

The harbour, run by the council, can take 250 boats between 15 and 20 metres long, and a whole wharf, which includes about 10% of the boat places available, is entirely devoted to transit, while another 20 landing places are reserved for professional fishermen. The draught of the port area goes from two and a half metres at the entrance to six metres at the deepest points: “So practically Adriatica can’t go in, but most other normal boats can”, Patrizio stresses.

Pressed by the curiosity of the casual sailor, Cristiana Dulbecco illustrates the services that Bordighera harbour provides. The columns on the quays supply water and electricity and particular attention is paid to safety thanks to a system of video surveillance, a barrier that prevents entry at night and a fire prevention system near the quay.

“What channel is it to communicate with you?” Patrizio asks, and Cristian Dulbecco quickly gives the desired information: “VHF 16 is the channel from 8 am to 2 pm, for Bordighera, otherwise the San Remo harbourmaster’s office is always listening.”

Patrizio wants to know more about visiting the area around Bordighera: “If I come here with my small boat and then I want to go along the coast and I don’t have a car, what can I do?” Cristiana Dulbecco answers: “No problem. At the harbour exit there’s a stop for the buses that go both towards the centre of Bordighera, where there’s a railway station and so you can go towards both Italy and France, otherwise on the bus you can get to the other towns on the coast, like San Remo, Imperia and Diano Marina, and there are also coach connections with the hinterland which are very convenient and allow you to visit our interesting villages.”

Patrizio: “Besides it is very beautiful… those villas there, that one in particular, what villa is it?”

Cristiana Dulbecco: “That is Villa Garnier, which was built by the architect Garnier who designed the Paris Opéra ... Bordighera is a big international place. Here above the harbour we have a statue of Queen Margherita, who lived here and had a villa built. She particularly loved the place and came on holiday several months in the year.”

The tourist harbour provides the following services:

• Short-stay car park
• Long-stay car park
• Catering services
• Services for animals

Villa Margherita

Patrizio stops in Bordighera to visit Villa Margherita, where Queen Margherita lived, the first non-casual tourist in Bordighera. “Queen Margherita? The pizza queen? The wife of Umberto I?” We ask the Vice-President of the Terruzzi Family Foundation, Andrea Artioli, who tells us about the Queen’s decision to spend some time in Ponente Ligure.

In the villa there are objects of various kind that strikes Patrizio’s attention. One of them is a hand warmer. So we discover that the queen was very up-to-date and also owned the first napkin warmer in Italy. Another curiosity is that in the villa there are no fireplaces, because at the villa heating was provided by a particular system of air conditioning: in the cellars there were some rooms with air ducts that went to every room; ice was used for cooling during the summer, while during the winter a radiator was used through which water heated by the boilers passed.
Today the villa belongs to the Terruzzi Family Foundation, which dealt with restructuring the building and looks after an art collection of great value. Mr. Guido Terruzzi left his private collection to the Foundation, to the Council and the Province so that everyone can enjoy it, including tourists. Speaking of tourists, a “suggestion to tourists.” In addition to seeing the bath, the elevator, the furniture and the pinacotheca, what can a visitor do? In addition to the rest, we can mention the terrace, from which a splendid panorama can be observed.