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CHAPTER XVI

BORDIGHERA

Ventimiglia—Internecine conflicts—Republics—Genoa obtains the Ligurian coast—Siege of Ventimiglia—Guelf and Ghibellines—The Lascaris family: Paul Louis Lascaris—The Cathedral and Baptistery—S. Michaele—Camporosso—Dolceacqua—Bordighera—San Ampelio—Relics—Retreat of the sea.

VENTIMIGLIA, crowning a rocky ridge above the Roya, was formerly the capital of a county comprising of all the coast to Porto Maurizio. What Mr. Adington Symonds says of Italian towns generally in the Middle Ages applies equally to those on the Riviera:—

"It would seem as though the most ancient furies of antagonistic races, enchained and suspended for centuries by the magic of Rome, had been unloosed; as though the indigenous populations, tamed by antique culture, were reverting to their primeval instincts. Nor is this the end of the perplexity. Not only are the cities at war with each other, but they are plunged in ceaseless strife within the circuit of their ramparts. The people with the nobles, the burghs with the castles, the plebeians with the burgher aristocracy, the men of commerce with the men of arms and ancient lineage, Guelfs and Ghibellines, clash together in persistent fury. One half the city expels the other half. The exiles roam abroad, cement alliances, and return to extirpate their con-

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