Casa Via Oratorio lies in the heart of the small Ligurian mountain village of Caravonica. The house can take up to 6 people and contains two bedrooms, a living room with a wood-burning stove, and practical kitchen decorated in rustic style and a bathroom. There is a roof patio which invites you to relax, sunbathe and barbecue. It’s also a fine vantage point for panoramic views of the surrounding area. The village of Caravonica has romantic lanes ideal for pleasant strolls and has a small alimentari (grocer’s shop), where amongst other things you can buy fresh rolls for breakfast. The village has also got two good restaurants where you can get to know and enjoy typical Ligurian cuisine. A small piece of advice: go easy on the antipasti, no matter how tasty it is, as you never know how many courses will follow.
If you travel up from San Lazzaro Reale you come to the mediaeval hillside town of Caravonica. It was a feudal possession of the Ventimiglia aristocrats, who built a castle in the upper part of the town, and it later fell under the dominion of the Knights of Rhodes and the Knights of Malta. Among the various legends concerning the derivation of the town's name, one of the most plausible suggests that it is linked with the passage of mule-drawn caravans from nearby towns through Caravonica, which was the only road for carrying oil to Piedmont.
A wonderful walk takes you to the sanctuary of the Beata Vergine delle Vigne, which dates from the late sixteenth century and is hidden away among the olive trees. It has undergone restorations on a number of occasions: its façade is embellished by a small portico and its interior preserves some remarkable eighteenth-century stucco work by F. M. Marvaldi and some frescoes by Francesco Carrega. There is a local legend concerning the ancient origins of the sanctuary: the son of a mule driver went to a food storehouse without telling his father and stole a small statue of the Virgin Mary, which he then put into a wheat sack. They loaded the sack onto their mule but during their journey the mule stopped and refused to go on. The son told his father what was hidden in the sack and the father decided to put the statue back. He protected the statue by surrounding it with stones, and these stones were to be the first ones laid when the church of the Madonna delle Vigne was built. Only a few ruins can be seen of the eleventh-century church of San Michele.
Those inhabitants who have stayed on in the town work in the cultivation of vines and olives. There are some beautiful local excursions to be made by mountain bike or on foot, taking you through the olive groves and the lush vegetation. One of these paths takes you to Guardiabella. At the end of your day out in the country, you can taste an excellent dish called "burrida" accompanied by Vermentino and Pigato superior wine.
A plethora of
restaurants, pizzerias, osterias, farmer stalls and markets etc.
Aficionados say that because of the quality of olives and diligent processes involved,
Imperia
and the surrounding area is said to have the best olive oil in the world.
Our representative on site will let you know where the best beaches are when you arrive.
Horseback riding
, among others with
Mulino Martino
with special courses for children, beginner course and tours through the Ligurian mountainside on horseback.
