What to see in Imperia, itinerary including the main monuments and places of interest, including the Cathedral of San Maurizio, the Old City, the Church of Santa Chiara and the Oratorio San Pietro.
Tourist information
Located in the western Ligurian Riviera, in the stretch also known as the Riviera dei Fiori, Imperia is located at the mouth of the Impero river, from which its name derives.
The city originated from the merger of the two inhabited areas of Oneglia and Porto Maurizio, whose historical events have had different courses.
In fact Porto Maurizio, probably of Roman origin, was a municipality linked to the Republic of Genoa, while Oneglia, which was first a possession of the Doria and subsequently of the Savoy in the sixteenth century, became the major outlet on the sea of the Savoy duchy.
The majestic Cathedral of San Maurizio was built between the end of the eighteenth and the first half of the nineteenth century on the site of another church.
The neoclassical pronaos is embellished with seventeenth-century statues and a high dome, while inside, in the sacristy, there are paintings made by artists of the Genoese school, including Gregorio De Ferrari and Domenico Piola.
What see
Starting from the Piazza del Duomo begins the old town, called Parasio, a typical neighborhood perched on the promontory with some medieval buildings.
The Convent of Santa Chiara, founded in the middle of the fourteenth century and redone in the eighteenth century, preserves inside the church, along the right nave, the painting depicting San Domenico Soriano and the Madonna, by Domenico Fiasella, while in the left nave find the Madonna and Child with Saint Catherine, executed by Sebastiano Conca.
In the presbytery area there is the Vestition of Santa Chiara, made by Domenico Bottino, also the author of the frescoes in the chapels.
Nearby is the oratory of San Pietro, built in the twelfth century and subjected to subsequent alterations and extensions.
The large facade, with three arches resting on paired columns, dates back to 1789, inside there is a canvas made by Lorenzo de Ferrari and a fifteenth-century wooden crucifix in Catalan style.
