Imperia is a coastal city and comune in the region of Liguria, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Imperia, and historically it was capital of the Intemelia district of Liguria. Benito Mussolini created the city of Imperia on 21 October 1923 by combining Porto Maurizio and Oneglia, as well as the surrounding village communes of Piani, Caramagna Ligure, Castelvecchio di Santa Maria Maggiore, Borgo Sant'Agata, Costa d'Oneglia, Poggi, Torrazza, Moltedo and Montegrazie.
Panorama of Imperia
A representation of Porto Maurizio in the early 1800s.
View of Porto Maurizio from the harbour of westernmost Oneglia.
Porto Maurizio
Liguria is a region of north-western Italy; its capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennines mountain range and is roughly coextensive with the former territory of the Republic of Genoa. Liguria is bordered by France to the west, Piedmont to the north, and Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany to the east. It rests on the Ligurian Sea, and has a population of 1,557,533. The region is part of the Alps–Mediterranean Euroregion.
A view of Cinque Terre
The Balzi Rossi caves, located on a cliff about 100 meters high, show traces of human occupation from the Middle Palaeolithic (300,000 years) to the foundation of the ancient city of Ventimiglia in Liguria. This constitutes the longest human occupation in the world of a geographical site.
Burial of an adolescent from the Upper Palaeolithic (29,000 years), having led archaeologists to nickname him the "young prince". About fifteen years old, he lay on his back on a layer of red ocher seven meters from the surface facing south, he wore a headgear decorated with shell beads and pierced deer teeth and squirrel tails on the thorax (Liguria region).
The Roman amphitheatre of Luni (1st century AD)
