The Nineteent Century

Society changes: Finale in the Nineteenth Century

Count Giorgio Gallesio (1772-1839), a minor aristocrat from Finalborgo, was secretary to the Genoese delegation that attended the Congress of Vienna in 1815, where Liguria was annexed to the Kingdom of Sardinia

Author of a volume on pomology (i.e. the science of fruit-growing) entitled “Pomona Italiana“, which contains a number of remarkable tables in colour, Count Gallesio was among the most brilliant and prominent figures of the times. A respected botanist working out of his Tenute dell’Aquila estate in Finale his work is quoted, among others, by Charles Darwin.

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY – 1815-1900 CE

During the 19th century, Finale and its most prominent maritime and small-scale farming economy gradually embraced modernisation. Infrastructure is a case in point, as both the coastal road connecting seaside towns and the railway between Genoa and Nice were built at the time. Further proof of changed social lifestyle and undeniable economic wealth was the construction of two prestigious theatre houses, i.e. the Sivori Teatre in Finalmarina and the Aycardi Theatre in Finalborgo.

Il campanile medievale della chiesa di San Giovanni Battista a Bardino Vecchio fornisce uno dei più significativi esempi liguri di impiego decorativo nelle strutture architettoniche di forme ceramiche, denominate col termine generico di ‘bacini’.

Campanile di San Giovanni Battista a Bardino Vecchio

Campanile di San Giovanni Battista a Bardino Vecchio

Il Museo Dell’Orologio da Torre è il concretizzarsi del sogno di Giovanni, l’ultimo orologiaio della famiglia Bergallo, di donare la sua collezione al proprio paese Bardino Nuovo.

Museo dell’Orologio da Torre “G. B. Bergallo”

Museo dell’Orologio da Torre “G. B. Bergallo”

Set atop the promontory of Monte Lunante, the walls and the towers of the castle of Varigotti were meant to protect the natural harbour down below in the bay on the eastern side. It is known as the Baia dei Saraceni.

Castle of Varigotti

Castle of Varigotti

The Buraggi family that is originally from the Val Sciusa area had moved to Finalmarina and between the 17th and 18th century owned two prestigious palaces.

Villa Buraggi

Villa Buraggi

Palazzo Cavasola

Palazzo Cavasola

Palazzo Buraggi in Finalmarina

Palazzo Buraggi in Finalmarina

In Finalmarina the palace that belongs to the Counts of De Raymondi in Via Ghiglieri is an example of a 18th-19th century aristocratic home.

Palazzo De Raymondi

Palazzo De Raymondi

In Finalborgo the palace that once belonged to the Counts of Arnaldi closes on the western side Pizza del Tribunale.

Palazzo Arnaldi

Palazzo Arnaldi

A typical example of a porched area dedicated to commercial activities is that of the vaulted porch placed underneath the façades of the prestigious residences that are the background of todays Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II in Finalmarina. The vaults are held by strong Finale stone square or hexagonal pillars; the blocks of Finale stone come from the quarries of the Val Sciusa valley.

The loggia of Platea Magna

The loggia of Platea Magna

In piazza San Bartolomeo in Gorra, following the road for Colle del Melogno, a suggestive medieval loggia opens on the ancient road. What it was used for remains uncertain: it may have been used as a public area destined to the community of Gorra, organised in Compagna at least from 1268, or it may have been linked to one of the medieval roads that went towards the Alta Val Maremola and Melogno hill.

The loggia of Gorra

The loggia of Gorra

Map of 1815-1900 CE