Apricale

Brigar or Avrigà, in the Ligurian dialect, is a medieval hamlet perched in the hinterland of Bordighera, in the Val Nervia. On its hills it is produced a high-quality olive oil, from Taggia, and a typical wine made from Rossese grapes that you should really taste, in one of the taverns hidden among its alleys. This intricate ups and downs of perfectly preserved medieval streets, a stone labyrinth where time seems to stand still in the thirteenth century, is dominated by the Castello della Lucertola, in front of the main square of Apricale.

Pulsating heart of the village life, every year in this square are held many local events, such as new oil festival, St. Valentine’s Fair in February and the Pansarola Festival (a type of sweet pancakes, usually served along with hot zabaglione cream), on the second Sunday of September. Inside the castle there is the history museum of Apricale, where the famous 1267 Apricalesi Statutes are preserved, considered the oldest in the Liguria area.
Apricale is also a very popular village and much loved by artists, especially painters, who painted fifty murals on the facades of houses. But the artistic suggestions are not limited to murals. On top of the bell tower of the parish church Purificazione della Maria Vergine, obtained from the adjoining square tower of the castle, a bicycle was fixed facing up to sky, by the contemporary artist Sergio Bianco, entitled La forza della non gravità (the power of no gravity). Since 2010, in partnership with the municipality, they opened the Albergo Diffuso, which allowed the recovery of old houses, medieval towers and caves scattered throughout the village, between ascents, descents and medieval walls.