18100 Imperia, Province of Imperia, Italy - panoramio (1)

Oneglia ( lij, Inêia or ) is a former town in northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

on the

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

n coast, in 1923 joined to

Porto Maurizio Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

to form the

Comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

Imperia Imperia (; lij, Inpêia or ) is a coastal city and ''comune'' in the region of Liguria, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Imperia, and historically it was capital of the ''Intemelia'' district of Liguria. Benito Mussolini created the ...

. The name is still used for the suburb.Roy Palmer Domenico, ''The regions of Italy: a reference guide to history and culture'' (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002), 165 The

Imperia Oneglia railway station Imperia Oneglia railway station ( it, Stazione di Imperia Oneglia) served the city of Imperia, in the Liguria region, northwestern Italy. Opened in 1872, it formed part of the Genoa–Ventimiglia railway, and was situated just over two thirds alo ...

was closed in 2016, due to the new organization of the city, which provides a new station in the middle core of the city of Imperia, just to make easier the connection between

and Oneglia. This specific point of the city, in the early 1930 was the hearth of the

's economy, due to the important oil commerce that was pretty consistent at that time.

History

Oneglia became a papal domain in the 8th century after the

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 and ...

transferred control of the town to the

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

. Oneglia suffered from a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

attack during this time. However, it later recovered as the town of ''Ripa Uneliae'', and was governed by the

bishop of Albenga A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

. The

Doria Family The House of Doria ( lij, Döia ) originally ''de Auria'' (from ''de filiis Auriae''), meaning "the sons of Auria", and then ''de Oria'' or ''d'Oria'', is an old and extremely wealthy Genoese family who played a major role in the history of the ...

purchased Oneglia and Porto Maurizio in 1298. The Dorias ruled the town until the 16th century (there were some brief interludes in which the Doria did not rule the town during this time). One of the Dorias,

Andrea Doria Andrea Doria, Prince of Melfi (; lij, Drîa Döia ; 30 November 146625 November 1560) was a Genoese statesman, ', and admiral, who played a key role in the Republic of Genoa during his lifetime. As the ruler of Genoa, Doria reformed the Repu ...

, was born in Oneglia in 1466. In 1576 Oneglia became part of the domain of the

House of Savoy The House of Savoy ( it, Casa Savoia) was a royal dynasty that was established in 1003 in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, the family grew in power from ruling a small Alpine county north-west of Italy to absolute rule of ...

. The Savoyards attempted to develop Oneglia as a major port and the Savoyards and Genoese struggled for control of Oneglia during the

Second Genoese-Savoyard War The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

.Edmund Ludlow, ''The memoirs of Edmund Ludlow, lieutenant-general of the horse in the army of the commonwealth of England, 1625-1672'', Volume 2. Editor: Charles Harding Firth (Clarendon Press, 1894), 438n. Oneglia resisted

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

during his invasion of Italy. As a reward, it was made seat of the province in 1814 but in 1860 became part of the province of Porto Maurizio until 1923.

Notable residents

* Filippo Berio (1828-1894), olive oil connoisseur *

Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled '' Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work ...

(1925-2003), composer *

Grock Grock (born Charles Adrien Wettach; 10 January 1880 – 14 July 1959) was a Swiss clown, composer, and musician. Called “the king of clowns”Pat CashinGrockClown Alley (blog). (August 24, 2006). Retrieved April 22, 2011 and “the greatest ...

(1880–1959), Swiss clown, who built ''Villa Grock'' here

References

Former municipalities of the Province of Imperia Imperia {{Liguria-geo-stub