{"id":120306,"date":"2026-08-25T13:35:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T13:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/120306\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T13:35:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T13:35:13","slug":"italys-once-abandoned-medieval-town-is-now-a-welcoming-unique-eco-village-nestled-between-the-alps-and-the-sea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/120306\/","title":{"rendered":"Italy’s Once-Abandoned Medieval Town Is Now A Welcoming, Unique Eco-Village Nestled Between The Alps And The Sea"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hidden in the Ligurian hinterland near Ventimiglia, a unique\u00a013th-century stone village,\u00a0Torri Superiore, was all but forgotten until an ambitious restoration project breathed new life into its old stone houses. Draped on the foothills of the Maritime Alps,\u00a0along with terracotta red rooftops and groups of solar panels peering from the foliage, Torri Superiore is just a few miles from the stunning Mediterranean coast and the border of France, the gateway to chic French Riviera towns like the the spectacular artists’ hub Antibes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While today Torri Superiore has a thriving community, the village had previously suffered decades of decay, even being used as a garbage dump before a cultural association was formed in 1989 to undertake the long process of acquiring, restoring, and re-inhabiting the medieval ghost village. The restoration, as it stands today, was completed over the course of three decades via various stages from 1997 through 2012,\u00a0with the help of local contractors and volunteers from all over the world.<\/p>\n

Indeed, the work here was a labor of love, and still is, with various projects like adding to the village’s energy self-sufficiency constantly in motion,\u00a0and involved reconstructing rooms, ruined stairwells, and entire houses, while being careful to blend in a sustainable edge. This involved ensuring Torri Superiore’s restoration made use of\u00a0local ecological materials,\u00a0like local stone, lime plaster, cork, and coconut fiber insulation, and installing solar technology, low-energy heating systems, and composting and phytopurification infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Read more: Unwritten Rules You Should Know Before Visiting Italy<\/a><\/p>\n

Getting to know Torri Superiore\"Residents<\/p>\n

Torri Superiore unfolds across three main buildings or blocks, eight levels,\u00a0and more than 160 rooms connected through a labyrinthine collection of stairways, terraces, and covered alleys. Look at it from afar, and you’ll find it almost resembles a medieval apartment building\u00a0or a castle without turrets, but walk its old paths, and you’ll find various explorable alleyways and streets ascending in cobbles to the village’s different levels. There are numerous spots to enjoy the view, too, with the lush undulations of the Alps forming a breathtaking natural skyline.<\/p>\n

Around 20 residents call Torri Superiore home (with new arrivals rare),\u00a0but the village is more than that; it’s\u00a0a cultural center that functions as a cultural hub\u00a0for environmental education, sustainability-focused retreats, intercultural exchange, and workshops on permaculture,\u00a0natural building, and community living. On site, you’ll find agricultural efforts such as olive growing, fruit orchards, herb gardens, and livestock breeding, as well as visiting volunteers from various international organizations.<\/p>\n

For travelers, the best way to experience Torri Superiore is to spend a few days there, slowing down to match its rhythm. While the rooms are intentionally simple and pared back, the guesthouse serves convivial\u00a0communal meals prepared with organic produce\u00a0plucked from the gardens. There are guided tours and opportunities to chat with residents about the community, and the location is stunning, with a surrounding valley crisscrossed with\u00a0walking paths along mountainsides and to\u00a0local swimming holes in the Bevera River.\u00a0Additionally, the Ecovillage can arrange picnic hampers as well as local guides and advise on longer journeys by local transport to the beaches in Ventimiglia.<\/p>\n

How to get to Torri Superiore and further exploration\"The<\/p>\n

Rostislav Glinsky\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

While Italy’s Torri Superiore eco-village is relatively remote, it’s not difficult to reach. You’ll need to take a train to Ventimiglia train station, and from there take either a taxi or the local Riviera transporti bus to Torri from Via Cavour in Ventimiglia.\u00a0Ventimiglia is well-connected with direct trains\u00a0from as far away as Rome, the best city to kick off a vacation in Italy<\/a>, which takes around eight hours, and Milan, with a route that cuts across the northern Italian countryside in approximately five hours.\u00a0If you’re hoping to fly to Torri Superiore, then the best international airport is across the border in France at Nice Airport (NCE). From there, it’s a 32.2-mile drive to Torri Superiore.<\/p>\n

It’s a quick trip\u00a0from Torri Superiore to Ventimiglia to visit its delightful old town and the seafront spreading out across the coast. You’ll find a collection of beaches that are mostly pebbly and rustic, contrasting with the sandy bays found further along the Ligurian coast<\/a>. One of the best beaches, Spiaggia dei Balzi Rossi, sits near the French border, with red cliffs framing caves and a fascinating archaeological Site. Just outside the town, Spiaggia delle Calandre offers a rare sandy option, reached by a view-laden footpath that passes through a pine forest en route to the beach.<\/p>\n

If you’ve already made your way across Italy, then crossing the Italian-French border is just a small extra step. From\u00a0Ventimiglia, a short 20-minute train ride west brings you to Menton,\u00a0with its Belle \u00c9poque villas and colorful old town, while Nice and the hilly fairytale village of \u00c8ze<\/a> are each less than an hour away.<\/p>\n

Ready to discover more hidden gems and expert travel tips? Subscribe to our free newsletter<\/a>! You can also add us as a preferred search source<\/a> or follow us<\/a> on Google for access to the world’s best-kept travel secrets.<\/p>\n

Read the original article on Islands<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hidden in the Ligurian hinterland near Ventimiglia, a unique\u00a013th-century stone village,\u00a0Torri Superiore, was all but forgotten until an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120307,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[16],"tags":[50,58645,58646,58643,58644],"class_list":["post-120306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-alps","tag-alps","tag-maritime-alps","tag-restoration-project","tag-torri-superiore","tag-ventimiglia"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/117156415527735041","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}