Although many scholars have tried to show a connection between "Villa Pompeiana" or "fundus pompeiano" and Pompey the Great, the name of this town basically remains a mystery. During mediaeval times, Pompeiana belonged to the feudal estates of the Clavesana and Lengueglia families and later to the Benedictines, under whose dominion it became a rural centre best known for olive cultivation. Today, its hillsides are cultivated with carnations, roses, marguerites, lavender, ornamental plants, eucalyptus and ruscus.
This beautiful mediaeval town still preserves its original stairways, cross-vaults, porticoes and stone pillars. The watchtowers date from the sixteenth century: the circular Panei tower is equipped with arrow-slits and embrasures; Barbarossa tower was built to a quadrangular design in the middle of the town and connects visually with the other towers, which were originally seven in number, although these were partly abandoned in order to cut maintenance costs. Dating from around the sixteenth century, the Case Soprane tower is a typical example of a tower-house. Pompeiana has a long-standing tourist tradition and has some excellent hotels.
Numerous events are organised for holiday-makers: festivals and sports competitions are now traditional occasions, including the elastic ball, tennis and five-a-side football tournaments that take place in July. In 1991, Pompeiana hosted the Italian pétanque competition. As you go along the Poggio main road, between the districts of Taggia and Tento, you can still admire the fountain built by the Benedictines in the thirteenth century.
Each district has a chapel dedicated to its own patron saint: San Biagio, Sant'Eligio, San Giuseppe, San Rocco and San Bernardo. Well worth visiting is the Baroque parish church that was rebuilt in the nineteenth century and the oratory of Santa Maria Maddalena, which has been home to the brotherhood of the same name since the sixteenth century.
