What is Perinaldo known for?

Giovanni Domenico Cassini, born here in 1625, mapped four moons of Saturn and gave his name to the Cassini Division in its rings. Working municipal astronomical observatory in the town hall, with regular evening sessions and a dedicated educational program. Taggiasca olive oil from the terraces below the ridge, the basis for the Città dell'Olio membership.

Perinaldo is a comune in the province of Imperia, Liguria region of Italy, about 166 kilometers from Genova.

Liguria · Imperia

Perinaldo

A ridge village at 572 meters above the Val Nervia, birthplace of Giovanni Domenico Cassini and home to a working astronomical observatory in his name.

572m

Elevation

166 km / 103 mi

Nearest hub (Genova)

829

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Perinaldo sits at 572 meters on a ridge above the Val Nervia, seven kilometers inland from Bordighera and the French border. The village is the birthplace of Giovanni Domenico Cassini, born in 1625 in the castle and christened in the parish Chiesa di San Nicola da Bari. Cassini left for Bologna and then for the court of Louis XIV in Paris, where he directed the new Royal Observatory, mapped four moons of Saturn, and gave his name to the gap in its rings. He sent a canvas back to the Suffragio altar of the parish church in 1672. The Osservatorio Astronomico Comunale G. D. Cassini, housed in the town hall with a dome in its courtyard, runs observation evenings and educational programs. The Sundial of the Chiesa della Visitazione marks the meridian Cassini's calculations helped fix. The terraces below grow Taggiasca olives. Perinaldo holds Borghi più belli, Bandiera Arancione, and Città dell'Olio.

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Gallery

8 photos · scroll →

Known for

Osservatorio Astronomico G. D. Cassini
Working municipal observatory inside the town hall, with a dome in the inner courtyard and observation evenings for visitors.
Chiesa di San Nicola da Bari
Parish church built in 1489, where Cassini was christened in 1625, holding a fifteenth-century wooden crucifix and a canvas Cassini donated in 1672.
Chiesa della Visitazione
Smaller church on the ridge, fitted with a meridian sundial calibrated using the astronomical methods Cassini helped develop.
Castello dei Conti Maraldi
Old village castle, birthplace of Cassini, the heart of the medieval centro storico arranged in concentric rings on the ridge.
Belvedere
Ridge viewpoint with sightlines down the Val Nervia to the sea and north into the Alpi Liguri toward Mount Toraggio.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June and September into October are the right months on this ridge above the Val Nervia. The terraces green in spring, the olive harvest runs from October into December, and the sky at 572 meters clears most evenings. The observatory schedules its public sessions through spring, summer and early autumn. July and August are bearable thanks to the elevation; nights cool quickly. November through March is quiet. The wind on the ridge sharpens. The observatory keeps a winter program tied to clear-sky alerts. Many of the small osterie close on weekdays.