Among the olives and the enchanted island: a weekend in Bergeggi

The inhabitants of the village on the slopes of Monte Elena must have been truly speechless when one fine day, around the beginning of the 6th century, they saw another mountain approaching the coast, just over fifty metres high, sliding slowly over the sea to stop a short distance from the mainland. It was a rocky islet covered in Mediterranean scrub, with two saints "on board": Eugenio and Vendemiale, fleeing the persecution of the Vandals. According to popular tradition, these are the origins of the Island of Bergeggi (Berzezzi in Ligurian, a Germanic word deriving from "berg", meaning mountain), today a regional nature reserve. Saint Eugenio, bishop of Carthage from 481 to 505, stayed to live on the island that had miraculously "ferried" him in front of the Ligurian coast, while Vendemiale set off again for Corsica.

After the death of Saint Eugenio, his remains were moved to nearby Noli, but legend has it that some years later the body returned to the Island on its own... A few hundred years later, in 992, the bishops of Savona built a monastery on the Island where the monks of Lerino settled. Whatever the truth, today Bergeggi is a little earthly paradise of the Ligurian Riviera di Ponente, and it is right here that we decided to stop for a weekend. After settling into two of the eight very comfortable and bright rooms of the Hotel Oro Verde, located on the heights of Bergeggi, from which a breathtaking view over the Gulf of Capo Noli opens up, we go to discover the town. The historic village develops right around there, while Torre del Mare, the most modern hamlet of the town, is reached along little paths that descend from the heights toward the shore.

During our walk we visit the Parish Church of San Martino di Tours, and try to discover some of the ancient watchtowers, including the early medieval Torre d'Ere and the fifteenth-century Torre Rovere. Several forts also "guard" the built-up area: that of Santo Stefano and San Giacomo, located on the mountain borders with Vado Ligure, and you can also visit the ruins of Forte Sant'Elena, also known for the tragic disaster of 1921, when the explosives depot stored inside blew up. While waiting for the second day of our weekend, which some of us will devote to scuba diving around the Island, a favourite destination of divers, we go to meet a little goat, or rather its metal statue, in the middle of the gardens of the Torre del Mare hamlet.

According to popular imagination, what calls to it is the Piper seated on the western tip of the Island: a metal statue perhaps depicting a shepherd playing a wind instrument. During our weekend in Bergeggi we also visit the spectacular Sea Cave, which opens in the limestone cliffs of the coast. At the end of this beautiful day, we head toward that oasis of relaxation immersed in nature that is the Hotel Oro Verde, where an exquisite Ligurian dinner awaits us. Before sitting down at the table, we admire the panorama that opens from the terrace and take a stroll in the garden, near the pool and among the olive trees, where weddings, birthdays, confirmations and baptisms are also organised. "Years ago there was only a little house here where my grandfather came to tend the olive grove and the vegetable garden.

It was my husband Franco who built the whole structure you see today," Olivia tells us; she runs the Hotel Ristorante together with her husband, her mother Silvia and her father Enrico. The preparation of the delicacies we are about to taste is entrusted to the chef Luca, helped by Igor. We start with the fan of home-marinated salmon with pink pepper and melba toast, the rose of Golfetta with fresh buffalo burrata, and the crudité of San Remo purple prawns with a citrus bouquet. Our vegetarian friend instead enjoys a warm vegetarian flan on a velvety leek and saffron soup. We follow these exquisite starters with a basket of assorted tagliatelle with anchovies and fresh cherry tomatoes, and we also taste the fisherman's raviolo flavoured with octopus and trombetta courgettes and the trofiette with a little ragout of local rabbit.

We continue the dinner with a fantastic sea bass turban stuffed with prawn on a shellfish velouté, fried anchovies, panissa and crunchy vegetables, while some of us taste the sliced Mediterranean tuna with sesame seeds and balsamic reduction. Our dinner ends on a very sweet note, tasting among other things the Oro Verde cannolo, made like the Sicilian one, but with candied Chinotto from Savona, the yoghurt bavarois with berries, the pineapple and fresh fruit carpaccio and a lovely pistachio and pear ice cream in filo pastry with Amarone sauce. The lights of the Gulf and the silence of the olive grove keep us company before going to sleep, waiting for another splendid day at the sea.

Francesca Bertha

FOR INFORMATION:

Hotel Ristorante Oro Verde Strada Comunale alla Gola di S. Elena, 11 Bergeggi (SV) Tel.: 019/859853