A Book of the Riviera

Chapter 3: PREFACE

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About This Book

A travel and historical survey of the Mediterranean coastline from Marseilles to Savona, the book combines geology, climate, and botanical description with sketches of towns, monuments, and local customs. It recounts ancient and medieval episodes, notes Roman and later traces, and offers concise biographies and anecdotes tied to chapels, castles, and coastal villages. Practical travel impressions and assessments of resorts, routes, and seasonal life appear alongside discussions of landscape formation, the mistral wind, and horticulture. Illustrated vignettes and episodic histories aim to orient winter visitors and general readers to the region's scenery, architecture, and folklore.

PREFACE

THIS little book has for its object to interest the many winter visitors to the Ligurian coast in the places that they see.

A consecutive history of Provence and Genoese Liguria was out of the question; it would be long and tedious. I have taken a few of the most prominent incidents in the history of the coast, and have given short biographies of interesting personages connected with it. The English visitor calls the entire coast—from Marseilles to Genoa—the Riviera; but the French distinguish their portion as the Côte d’Azur, and the Italians distinguish theirs as the Riviera di Ponente. I have not included the whole of this latter, so as not to make the book too bulky, but have stayed my pen at Savona.

GOD’S CANDELABRA