A mine of joy between culture and good food: a trip to Ne

One of the five Italian municipalities with the shortest name, made up of just two letters, is the fourth largest municipality in the province of Genoa: this peculiarity of Ne is only one of its characteristics that make it a “small great town”. To discover it, you just have to move a few kilometres from the Eastern Ligurian Riviera into the hinterland of Chiavari and Lavagna. There, where the waters of the Graveglia stream flow into the Entella river, lies Valgraveglia, a true hikers' Paradise, which is part of the Aveto Regional Nature Park. Whether you go around on foot, by mountain bike or on horseback, here you immerse yourself in a breathtaking landscape and there are certain peaks from which you can admire the snow-capped Alps on one side and the sea on the other. During our trip we visit several hamlets that offer a real medieval itinerary through the striking villages.

Between Nascio and Castagna we admire the beautiful bridge over the Rio Novelli, and at Zerli we discover the ruins of the Tower Castle of Roccamaggiore, built by the Fieschi of Lavagna. It is on arriving in the hamlet of Chiesanuova that we discover the most relevant historical note: Giuseppe Garibaldi's grandfather, Angelo, was born right in this locality and was baptised in the Church of San Biagio in 1741. At the time the hamlet itself was called Garibaldo and in Ne the surname Garibaldi is still among the most widespread. We are even so lucky as to meet Mrs Anna Garibaldi, a teacher and the soul of the School and Civic Library of Ne, the leader of the innovative libraries of the Mandillo Network.

The credit for discovering the library, a stimulating, unusual, colourful and fun space, goes to the children who are with us: when we drive through the hamlet of Conscenti, the municipal seat, so named because it is at the famous confluence of the river and the stream, they notice a large group of very nice scarecrows beside the road. Mrs Garibaldi will explain to us that they were created by the children of Ne for a competition, children who look after another jewel of the village: the “Orto in condotta”, a real vegetable garden in the shape of a spiral, where the little ones can learn to grow the native vegetables of the area, and consequently, to eat well.

The library is named after another important figure for Neese culture: Hugo Plomteux, a well-known Belgian linguist and dialectologist born in 1939 and who died at only 41 years of age, who, having fallen in love with this place, had moved to Ne to study the local dialect and the traditions of country life to which he had devoted several works. In the hamlets immersed in unspoilt nature there are also numerous beautiful churches, such as the Parish Church of Saints Cipriano and Giustina in Sambuceto, commissioned by the Benedictine monks, the 17th-century Church of San Martino in Caminata or the Church of Sant’Apollinare, existing since the year 1000 in the hamlet of Reppia.

If this beautiful territory is a mine of treasures, that is also meant in the literal sense of the word: here, in fact, is the Gambatesa Mine, the largest manganese mine in Europe, turned into a museum, visitable equipped with helmets and yellow capes, descending into the bowels of the earth on a little train driven by real miners. After this evocative experience, we certainly cannot give up relaxing in the company of an exquisite typical dinner at the Trattoria Il Minatore, in the hamlet of Piandifieno. “The first manager of this place, existing since the days of the war, was a miner. For eight years now we have continued the tradition of this trattoria, which has always been family-run, offering dishes based on genuine ingredients from the area, short supply chain,” Mrs Giuliana Parma, the owner, tells us.

We start with a rich buffet starter with vegetable pies, local cured meats and cheeses, fried fritters and stuffed seasonal vegetables. We continue with ravioli di magro with ragù, pansotti with walnut sauce, lasagne with mushrooms, cannelloni, and mandilli with pesto, potatoes and green beans. We discover that during the winter you can also taste the ravioli with a chestnut filling as well as exquisite minestrone soups. We wash down these delicacies with wines from Ne, by Daniele Parma, as well as a few other Ligurian labels, including wines from the Colli di Luni. We continue with excellent grilled meats, the cime and mixed fried all’italiana, but we also taste an exquisite stuffed boiled hen and the typical tomajelle, that is, Genoese roulades.

The sweet conclusion of our dinner has us let ourselves be tempted by the cakes: apple, pear and chocolate, peach and amaretti, and strawberry and almond. We also taste an excellent tiramisù, puddings and cherry tarts. There is still so much left to discover in this splendid territory, and we are sure we will do so during our next trips in the Ligurian Levante.

Francesca Bertha

FOR INFORMATION:

Trattoria Il Minatore Via Piandifieno, 57 Ne (GE) Tel.: 0185/339207