Altitude: 179 m a.s.l.
Area: 16 sq km
Distance from Imperia: 29 km
Inhabitants: in 1881: 2327 - in 2017: 1123
Patron Saint Day: April 23rd - San Giorgio
Information: Municipality phone 0184 407007
The origins of the toponym Badalucco, attested in the thirteenth century in the archaic forms of Baaluco and Badaluco, are probably connected to the onomatopoeic verb “batare”, from which the Italian equivalent “badare”, in the sense of "stand guard, watch over", perhaps in reference to the ancient function of the village as fortified stronghold.
The area upstream of Badalucco was already inhabited in very ancient times, as proven by the findings of prehistoric evidence from Tana Bertrand on Monte Faudo, currently exhibited in the Museum of Sanremo; in historical times Badalucco was a fortified fief of the Counts of Ventimiglia who sold it in 1259 to Genoa, to which it remained ever since.
Visit of the town
Once in Badalucco park at the beginning of the built-up area on the left or, if you don’t find a place, at the sports field that you can reach by taking the concrete bridge over the Argentina stream.
Back on foot, cross the Provincial Road and after a few steps take on the left the porphyry cubes ramp of Via Quinto Marzio; arrived at the vault on which the church is built, go up the staircase to the left and reach the widening of "Ciazzà" on which stands the Baroque Mater Misericordiae church of 1791.
From there take on the left via Fontana, passing at number 47 the two giant marble mortars on the sides of the door with a black stone architrave with the partly abraded inscription: "NON MENTIETUR OPUS ... IO C.B.I."; continuing further you’ll leave the town through a gate beyond which on the right is affixed a plaque that commemorates the mission of the Capuchins of Genoa in 1859 and promises forty days of indulgence to those who recite the brief jaguar.
If you continue along the paved ramp to the right, after four hundred meters you’ll reach the chapel of San Sebastiano, originally a guardhouse on which rests, controlling the passage carved into the rocks, the eastern gateway to the village; in the chapel with a belfry, the paintings of Christ and the Virgin and, behind the altar, an anonymous canvas of "Saint Sebastian" are preserved in wooden cases.
Go back further past the aedicule at number 15, the atrium with a low stone column at the foot of the stairs at number 17, the black stone portal with decorations on the jambs and canopy at number 23 and the window-door of an old shop shortly after on the right, to reach the oldest eastern gateway to the walled town, with machicolations under the vault.
Past the gate, turn right on Via Ponte; after the black stone portal with a deteriorated Latin inscription at number 8, there are the narrow and low alleys of the medieval citadel, proportionate to the modest stature of the people of that time.
Continuing forward you’ll find on the left a window-door of an ancient shop and then a beautiful roof terrace with columns; at number 38 there is a stone portal with an architrave carved in a Trigram, and a similar one is at number 42.
On the opposite side, at number 27, there was certainly a close relative of Monsieur De Lapalisse, who felt the need to have, carved on the lintel of his house, the warning "SINE COLUMNA CADET" (without a column, it falls).
You have thus arrived to the Provincial Road you’ll cross to reach the Romanesque Ponte di Santa Lucia of 1555, which crosses the Argentina torrent with two unequal arches: in correspondence of the pylon that joins them, there is the chapel with a porch with little seats and a small bell tower built in 1605 which, beyond its devotional reason, also responds to the functional need to counteract the thrust of the two arches with its own weight.
The pavement of the bridge, which was originally also equipped with a gate that controlled its access, preserves the original cobblestone with the track in stone slabs to support the wheels of the carts.
Crossing again the Provincial Road, continue for a short stretch to the right until, having reached the widening, take on the left Via A. Cane, which you can walk, keeping the right, until you reach Piazza Gradi, with a small fresco in the oval above number 9; from there reach the central Via Bianchi which you’ll take on the right.
You have now arrived to the center of the town where the beautiful portal of the municipal palace in black stone with jambs decorated with a braid motif is located on the right; affixed a little further on are two fourteenth-century columns in black stone from the original church that stood in the immediate vicinity.
Next to the town hall there is the oratory of San Francesco of 1616, still the seat of the homonymous confraternity.
Under the bell tower lies the alley that separates it from the parish church of Santa Maria Assunta and San Giorgio, that was built in Baroque style in the XVII century; the building was further modified in the nineteenth century. The elegant facade overlooks the square.
The interior of the structure is composed of a single large hall with an elliptical plan and preserves a wooden sculpture by Anton Maria Maragliano. The Madonna is refined, and at the main altar there is a marble group with angels of seventeenth century Roman origin, of the Bernini school, which is exhibited only on the occasion of the related festivities.
There are also several paintings dating from the seventeenth to the eighteenth century, such as a precious painting by Francesco Maria Narice of 1756 depicting the Assumption of the Virgin.
In the sacristy there are 18th century canvases by the painter Francesco Brea.
The church of San Nicolò, built in the XVIII century on the ruins of the ancient castle of the Counts of Badalucco, dominates the town. From there you can enjoy a magnificent view of the town from above.
Go back by taking the first right (Salita Monte Ceppo) with a view on the Argentina stream and the valley; take the street paved in porphyry cubes on the left and then descend again to the left along via Boeri, returning inside of the walls through the northern access gate to the town.
After passing the vault with a niche on the left and a fountain on the right, at the intersection with the street that descends from the church, continue to your right along Via Gioberti where, on the right under the second vault, you’ll find the ancient Podesteria with an ogival arch stone portal and machicolation holes under the high vaulted ceiling.
Walking a few steps under the vault on the right you’ll see a stone gutter protruding from the wall on the left: it is the dispenser through which in times of famine the wheat "ration" was distributed to the poor, wheat that was kept in the Podesteria to protect it from the hungry crowd that gathered around there.
The atmosphere of those times is still perceptible proceeding under the dark archivolts that follow one another all the way until, going left down along via Ponte, you’ll go back to the car.
Continuing on the Provincial Road you’ll encounter after a few hundred meters the Baroque church of Madonna degli Angeli with a black stone portal preceded by a small portico and a low massive bell tower with a green round dome, with three-light windows in the belfry; exactly in front of it, the Argentina stream is crossed by the medieval three-arched bridge which takes its name from the little church.
On the western side of Monte Faudo, about two hours from Badalucco, is Tana Bertrand, twenty-five meters deep, used as a burial ground in the Copper Age: here have been collected arrowheads in stone and bone, a green stone ax, pearl necklaces in calcite, slate, hematite, and two pendants depicting female bodies, now exhibited in the Museum of Sanremo, while in the nearby Cave of Baraigo was found a fine fourteen centimeters long dagger of finely worked flint.
From Badalucco the Provincial Road follows the course of the Argentina stream; after a kilometer, on the right, you’ll find the detour that, in another kilometer, will take you to Montalto Ligure.