Category: Rapallo

As I’m getting behind with this riveting blog, I think that it’s easier to do a job lot of the remaining photos from Rapallo that intrigued me….. It’s a lovely little coastal town, they’ve been very brave coping with all the attacks made on them over the centuries.

This pretty little gate is the only surviving one of the five that once circled the town of Rapallo. The gate was constructed in the early seventeenth century, although the rather decadent Baroque style is more recent. I imagine that the town authorities had a bit of money one year and fancied tarting it up, perhaps because they’d already knocked the other four down. The destruction of the gates started early, as one was taken down in 1702 to improve access to the town.

The name, Porta delle Saline, comes from the nearby salt pans where seawater was once evaporated to produce salt. Today the gate is now doorless and it marks the pedestrian area of the town from the more car heavy outskirts.

I like a sculpture (I don’t get out much) as its reason for being is often more intriguing than the person who is represented. This one is Giuseppe Garibaldi who is best known for having a biscuit named after him, but he is also known as the Father of the Italian nation. And there are hundreds of these sculptures across Italy for that reason, although perhaps there are more than are really needed.

The sculpture is located in Piazza IV Novembre, the national Italian day which marked Italian victory (well, of sorts) in the First World War and securing the future of the nation.

Incidentally, one of my favourite facts about Garibaldi is that when he was creating the Redshirts to follow his radical political agenda, they weren’t named in some revolutionary fervour. It was rather more because he had got a job load of red shirts meant for slaughterhouse workers in Argentina.

Here’s the local hero Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) doing some more pointing towards his discoveries in the New World. The sculptor was Arturo Dresco and this was another little addition to the town which was paid for by those who had left it to go to the Americas.

The statue was unveiled on 21 May 1914 and it’s quite a substantial little arrangement with two groups of bronze figures as well.

And the main man and local hero…. I couldn’t find any actual link between Rapallo and Columbus, I think they just wanted to show their appreciation for their hero from Genoa. Which reminds me that one day I’d like to visit Columbus in Ohio, although that’s more because it’s the capital of the state rather than me going to places named after Columbus…..

Sitting overlooking the harbour is Rapallo Castle which was first built in around 1551. Its construction was linked to a rather lively visit from the Barbary corsairs, or pirates, who managed to raid and pillage the town. The Republic of Genoa, embarrassed by its earlier lack of foresight, promptly decided a castle might help deter further unscheduled visits from Dragut, who was effectively the pirate King although I don’t suspect that Disney will be making any movies about him in the near future.

And so here is the fortress that they plonked on the shoreline in an attempt to reassure the locals. The Barbary slave trade was more than just a few adventurous lads in ships. It was a devastating business, stretching from North Africa across the Mediterranean and deep into the European coasts. For centuries, these pirates, often with official backing from the Ottoman authorities, raided towns like Rapallo, scooping up men, women and children to be sold in slave markets from Algiers to Tunis. This was a huge problem and it decimated some Italian coastal villages and even impacted countries as far away as Ireland.

The view out from the castle and it reminds me of my visits to Malta which is where Dragut was killed in 1565. Dragut is revered by some for his naval talents, but he was also one of the largest slave traders and he attacked the poorest in society and caused terror amongst the weakest. His legacy isn’t forgotten in many coastal areas around Italy and other parts of the Mediterranean. It was all a grimly efficient enterprise and it must have made many reconsider their decision to live by the sea.

After the threat of piracy diminished, the building was used as a prison as it was just as effective at keeping in as it had been keeping them out. It further lost relevance after 1797 when Napoleon took control of the wider region. The building was restored in the 1920s and it was used by freedom fighters during the Second World War who wanted to overthrow the Mussolini regime.

There didn’t seem to be a huge number of food options in the town on a lunchtime in November. There were a few tourist looking places, a few takeaways and quite a lot of venues that were closed up.

This one looked nice, some tables in the shade as I didn’t want to get sun-burnt.

In true aperitivo tradition, a selection of snacks were brought out to the table.

The beer options didn’t surprise and delight me, so I decided instead to have a Aperol Spritz which is not really my usual drink of choice. However, variety is good for the soul, with the taste being rather agreeable. It was also quite a handy place for people watching and because I chose to sit out of the sun I didn’t have any problem with people smoking away outside.

I ordered a chicken burger and this was rather lovely, a soft bun, flaked coated chicken which was tender alongside some salad elements to add texture. This whole arrangement felt really rather continental and the service was friendly, timely and helpful.

Customers go inside to pay and the server quickly dealt with the transaction. She was conversational and personable, this felt like a genuinely friendly venue. The cost of the drink, burger and coperto (the service charge for the snacks) was around £12 which I thought was entirely agreeable.

The online reviews for this venue are positive, which is primarily why I tried it. It seems to have quite a lively atmosphere in the evening, although it’s relatively small inside, but they have plenty of outside tables to boost matters. All really rather lovely.

This rather attractive little music kiosk is situated near the waterfront and it was paid for by former residents who had left Rapallo. Millions of Italians left their country in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to settle in South America, mostly Argentina and Brazil.

Unveiled in 1929, it was designed by the architect Luigi Devoto and painted by Giovanni Grifo.

The underneath of the kiosk and it depicts the faces of some of the great composers, including Verdi, Mozart and Beethoven. Given its coastal location, it’s had to be repaired and restored numerous times but it looks in decent shape at the moment.

It’s really quite beautiful, this is the sort of thing that somewhere like Las Vegas, Warsaw, Shenzhen or Dereham should have.