Top of the World
Porto Maurizio is a part of the municipality of Imperia and is a characteristic town overlooking the Ligurian Sea. Its history has seen it independent for many centuries but always at the service of the nearby and powerful Republic of Genoa. Porto Maurizio is together with Oneglia one of the two parts in which the city of Imperia is divided. Before this, the city remained a municipality in itself until 1923, as well as the capital of the then province of Porto Maurizio. The town of Porto Maurizio is probably of Roman origins. It is, however, certain of its autonomy during the medieval period; in fact, the city remained an autonomous municipality despite the close alliance pacts and a great dependence on the nearby Republic of Genoa. Its popularity grew thanks to the production of olive oil, an element that was requested by everyone. During the Napoleonic period it had the same fate as the nearby Genoa, but after this occupation the city passed under the dominion of Piedmont and later became part of the Kingdom of Italy. In 1923 it merged with Oneglia and other small towns nearby, thus creating the town of Imperia. The city of Porto Maurizio in the past was perfectly represented by the famous cartographer Vinzoni; in fact we can find some excellent material dating back to 1773 that makes us note that the urban area of the city has not had substantial changes.
