Log book

Patrizio interviews the Mayor of Santa Margherita Ligure, Roberto de Marchi: "This is a place that according to the words of Vittorio Girossi, a great sea poet, the Lord created one day when he woke up in a good mood,” he says. And Patrizio cannot help agreeing, as the setting is marvellous, a place in which you practically moor in the centre of the town! This is a unique particularity, which Santa Margherita only has in common with Saint Tropez in the whole Mediterranean: both have their harbours in the heart of the city, in living contact with the inhabitants, not in an area on its own.

After landing at Santa Margherita you begin your visit from Villa Durazzo, created by the first Albanian immigrant, the Duke of Durazzo, and you continue along the artistic itinerary among the historical buildings admiring the centuries-old trompe l’oeil. You appreciate the balance between man and nature, which makes the place the ideal destination for moderate, respectful and attentive tourism.

There remains just one gastronomic-political enigma that you can try to resolve personally in the field: is it true that the local pesto is the best in all Liguria? The Mayor only commits himself on a detail: pesto must have garlic in it! Otherwise it is not pesto.

The Hotel Imperial

Arriving at Santa Margherita Ligure by sea is a true spectacle! After landing, Zoe visits what is probably the sancta sanctorum of local tourism, the most luxurious and most historic hotel in Santa Margherita: the Hotel Imperial. Built in 1898, until 1905 it was a private villa, then it was enlarged with the addition of a wing and became a hotel in 1910. Everyone has been to the Hotel Imperial, among them also Luigi Pirandello and Eleonora Duse ... And there is even the room where the peace treaty was signed between Germany and Russia that put an end to the Second World War! Architecturally it is a wonder in which nothing is left to chance, every room is richly decorated and enriched in the smallest details, down to the panorama that can be enjoyed from the terraces: Santa Margherita harbour!