Civezza (''çivèssa'' in Ligurian) is a ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces ('' province''). The can ...

'' (municipality) in the

Province of Imperia The Province of Imperia ( it, Provincia di Imperia, french: Province d'Imperia, Ligurian: ''Provinsa d’Imperia'') is a mountainous and hilly province, in the Liguria region of Italy, situated between France to the north and the west, and the L ...

in the Italian region

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

, located about southwest of

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of t ...

and about west of

Imperia Imperia (; lij, Inpêia or ) is a coastal city and ''comune'' in the region of Liguria, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Imperia, and historically it was capital of the ''Intemelia'' district of Liguria. Benito Mussolini created the ...

. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 557 and an area of .All demographics and other statistics: Italian statistical institute Istat. The village is located on the top of a hill, like many others villages of the

riviera ''Riviera'' () is an Italian word which means "coastline", ultimately derived from Latin , through Ligurian . It came to be applied as a proper name to the coast of Liguria, in the form ''Riviera ligure'', then shortened in English. The two areas ...

. The seaside is just away. The French border is away, and the

Principality of Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Ligur ...

is . The closest big city is the French city of

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

, west of Civezza, while the regional capital

Genova Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

is east of the village. Civezza borders the following municipalities: Cipressa, Dolcedo,

, Pietrabruna, and San Lorenzo al Mare. The village was founded in the 11th century: a well-known legend says its birth is due to the decision of three noble families (the Riccas, the Dolcas and the Arrigos) to settle here after being exiled from

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

, because of political contrasts with the city's

doge A doge ( , ; plural dogi or doges) was an elected lord and head of state in several Italian city-states, notably Venice and Genoa, during the medieval and renaissance periods. Such states are referred to as "crowned republics". Etymology The ...

. Civezza is a medieval village, with five ancient towers built in the 16th century to defend its territory against

saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia P ...

s pirates. The

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholic Church, Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocacy, advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, ...

is Saint Mark the Evangelist, and he is celebrated on April, 25th. The name of the patron saint is also the name of Civezza's main

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Ch ...

(''San Marco Evangelista''). There are also five smaller churches in Civezza: 'san Giovanni', 'san Rocco', 'san Sebastiano', 'san Salvatore' and 'Madonna delle Grazie'. Weather is warm but windy in all seasons, and rainfalls are rare. There is a traditional production of

olive oil Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: ...

and

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are ...

. Despite the small size of the village, in Civezza there are: a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

, two ''alimentari''

shop Shop or shopping refers to: Business and commerce * A casual word for a commercial establishment or for a place of business * Machine shop, a workshop for machining *"In the shop", referring to a car being at an automotive repair shop *A woo ...

s, two bars, three

agritourism Agritourism or agrotourism involves any agriculturally based operation or activity that brings visitors to a farm or ranch. Types A 2018 article published in the ''Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development'' classified a ...

s, a

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service shop offering a wide variety of food, beverages and household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earlier grocery stores, but is smaller and more lim ...

, a restaurant, a

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

, an

inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...

. There's also a

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

and a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

. At least four times per day a public

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

service connects Civezza to the provincial capital Imperia and San Lorenzo al Mare. Languages spoken are Italian and Ligurian, the last one mainly by the elderly. French is also widely understood.

Demographic evolution

Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width:455 height:303 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:1000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:1000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:200 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1861 text:1861 bar:1871 text:1871 bar:1881 text:1881 bar:1901 text:1901 bar:1911 text:1911 bar:1921 text:1921 bar:1931 text:1931 bar:1936 text:1936 bar:1951 text:1951 bar:1961 text:1961 bar:1971 text:1971 bar:1981 text:1981 bar:1991 text:1991 bar:2001 text:2001 PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left bar:1861 from: 0 till:809 bar:1871 from: 0 till:745 bar:1881 from: 0 till:723 bar:1901 from: 0 till:686 bar:1911 from: 0 till:687 bar:1921 from: 0 till:630 bar:1931 from: 0 till:487 bar:1936 from: 0 till:482 bar:1951 from: 0 till:457 bar:1961 from: 0 till:400 bar:1971 from: 0 till:412 bar:1981 from: 0 till:374 bar:1991 from: 0 till:462 bar:2001 from: 0 till:536 PlotData= bar:1861 at:809 fontsize:XS text: 809 shift:(-8,5) bar:1871 at:745 fontsize:XS text: 745 shift:(-8,5) bar:1881 at:723 fontsize:XS text: 723 shift:(-8,5) bar:1901 at:686 fontsize:XS text: 686 shift:(-8,5) bar:1911 at:687 fontsize:XS text: 687 shift:(-8,5) bar:1921 at:630 fontsize:XS text: 630 shift:(-8,5) bar:1931 at:487 fontsize:XS text: 487 shift:(-8,5) bar:1936 at:482 fontsize:XS text: 482 shift:(-8,5) bar:1951 at:457 fontsize:XS text: 457 shift:(-8,5) bar:1961 at:400 fontsize:XS text: 400 shift:(-8,5) bar:1971 at:412 fontsize:XS text: 412 shift:(-8,5) bar:1981 at:374 fontsize:XS text: 374 shift:(-8,5) bar:1991 at:462 fontsize:XS text: 462 shift:(-8,5) bar:2001 at:536 fontsize:XS text: 536 shift:(-8,5) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from ISTAT

References

{{authority control Cities and towns in Liguria

Demographic evolution

See also

References