Finalborgo
Discover Finalborgo
A concise introduction to Finalborgo, its geography, history and culture.
Introduction
Finalborgo is a walled medieval town about a kilometre and a half inland from the seafront at Finale Ligure, of which it is administratively a part. It was the capital of the Marquisate of Finale for four centuries, and it still has the walls, gates and street plan that came with that.
The centre is small, flat and entirely enclosed, entered through surviving gates and arranged around two squares. Almost everything is within five minutes on foot.
Two things give it a life beyond its history. The former Dominican convent of Santa Caterina holds the archaeological museum for the whole Finale area, whose caves have produced some of the most important prehistoric finds in Italy.
And the limestone around it has made Finale one of Europe’s major sport-climbing and mountain-biking destinations, so the borgo functions as a base for several thousand climbers a year as well as a monument.