Taggia


Taggia is a comune in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about west of Imperia. It has around 13,000 inhabitants.
Taggia borders the following municipalities: Badalucco, Castellaro, Ceriana, Dolcedo, Pietrabruna, Riva Ligure, and Sanremo. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia.

Geography

The town is divided into three parts: Taggia proper, located in the Valle Argentina in the immediate outback, it can be considered the proper centre of the city; Arma, a sea resort; and Levà, including the industrial area, placed between the other centres. The town can be found at approximately from the city of Imperia.

History

Tombs dating from the 10th-7th centuries BC have been found in the area of Taggia. During the Roman domination it was an important commercial port, known as Costa Balenae. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the old centre was damaged by the invasion of Rotharis's Lombards and then by a landslide in 690. The inhabitants moved to a new walled settlement, called Tabia. Despite its defences, in 889 it was sacked and razed to the ground by the Saracens.
The rebuilt burgh became in 1153 a fief of the Clavesana family, but soon later it was acquired by the Republic of Genoa. In 1273 it became an autonomous commune, later receiving a podestà named in Genoa, under which it remained until its disappearing in the Napoleonic Wars. Later it was part of the Kingdom of Sardinia and of the Kingdom of Italy.

Main sights

Taggia is situated on the Strada statale 1 Via Aurelia. It has also a gate on the A10 Highway.
Taggia has a railway station on the Genoa–Ventimiglia line.
Riviera di Trasporti SpA provides public transport service. Taggia was served by trolleybuses of the Sanremo trolleybus system from 1948 to 2002 and before 1948 by an interurban tramway from Sanremo.