The Principality of Seborga in the Guide Vert 2008!

We are very happy to learn that the famous tourist guidebook Guide Vert talked about the Principality of Seborga in its edition of Northern Italy 2008 (see photo).

Seborga is the subject of a small insert page 161. It is also represented on a map page 162 and quoted in the main index page 393. This is the complete text of this short article which has been published:

“The Principality of Seborga: Because of a bureaucratic mistake, the small Principality (11kms east of Bordighera) had never been officially registered among the properties of the House of Savoy. In the 60s, its inhabitants began to claim their independence, they elected a prince and they started to strike coins and to edit stamps. To know more about it go to www.seborga.com."

On the one hand, we are pleased of the fact that the Michelin guide has also decided to recognize and to admit the existence of the Principality of Seborga, but on the other hand, we are surprised by the inaccuracy and the restricted content of this article.

The Authorities of Seborga also seem to share this point of view. That’s the reason why they have decided to write the Guide Vert in order to ask the editors to correct the six errors or inaccuracies found in the article:

• There is no bureaucratic error: Seborga has never been the property of the House of Savoy but its protectorate (which explains its non-annexation by the Kingdom of Piemont-Sardinia –renamed “Kingdom of Italy” in 1861, the rights and duties of which were inherited by the Italian Republic in International Law.)

• The Principality of Seborga is located in the North-North East of Bordighera, at about 7kms as the crow flies and at about 10kms by car.

• The ‘claim for independence’ is more precisely the taking back of its sovereignty, which has never stopped existing in spite of its Italian civil administration.

• The Principality of Seborga has been an elective Monarchy since the Early Middle Ages and the taking back of its sovereignty has logically led to the election of a new Prince: it mustn’t be considered as an innovation.

• The currency of Seborga, the Luigino, started to be struck around 1630; so, it didn’t start in the 1960s, it only restarted (in 1995).

• The official e-address for the government site is http://www.seborga.homeip.net/ and not the one given in the article.

We will pay attention to the future editions of the Guide Vert and we hope that the information given on Seborga will be more precise and true.

Sport: Seborga on the soccer field with “Mihailovca-Seborga 2005”.

A new reality in football is making its way in the landscape of the Republic of Moldova: an Italian-Moldovan team.

For the Republic of the former Soviet Union this is an absolute novelty: from this month the small municipality of Mihailovca can boast its own football team: the “Mihailovca Seborga-2005” (see photo).
The idea came from the “Seborga in the World Association” of the Principality of Seborga which - after having created a football field in the village with the collaboration of the local youth and the volunteers of the emergency service of Seborga-Vallebona - launched this new challenge.
The president of the soccer team is a young Moldovan lady: Lilia Lebada, living in Rome and with dual nationality, who was appointed - according to the association - "not only for her sensitivity to the political plans for the youth of her country, but for her experience in football”.
The vice President is Alberto Cengarle, creator and administrator of the Italian-Moldovan discussion forum: “Ambasada.it”, who stressed that the main objective of the project is “to bring families and particularly children to love this sport, through the matches the boys will play each week”.
Mihailovca-Seborga 2005 team will wear the blue colours, like the colours of the Principality of Seborga and will have as sponsor various Italian and Moldovan firms and companies.
From September the team will play in the national championships, but the newborn team has clear programs and aims: "to Improve the ground of the football field, build showers, changing rooms and stands, build an illumination system, as well as reaching the top positions of the youth league” explained the chairman Lilia Lebada, who added that the league “is already thinking about the creation of a team of women players”.

Seborga Among Art and Flowers

“Seborga in harmony among Art and flowers” is the theme of the next event organised by the Municipality of Seborga and in collaboration with the Angelo Biffi Art Gallery.

Flowers compositions and fresco paintings will be displayed along the streets of Seborga, from the 1st to the 4th of May 2008.
For more information, contact the Tourist office by phone: 0184/223859 or by e-mail:turismo@proseborga.com

Seborga: 1st May, 2nd Pipe Festival

The Flowers Riviera and the Cote d’Azur so famous for their centuries-old olive trees are also renowned for their ‘briar’ or ‘arboreous heather’ root, – which in our dialect is called ‘U Brugu’ – plants which are used for making pipes. On Thursday 1st May, from 10.00 am on, in the small square of San Martino in Seborga, in the presence of handicraftsmen and worldwide famous master pipe makers, the 2nd Pipe International Festival is scheduled.

“It is a common mistake to think that smoking was imported from America in Christopher Columbus days – the organizers say -. Recent excavations in South France unearthed examples of ‘primordial pipes’ dating back to 400 BC made in iron, bronze and clay. Roman naturalist and historian Plinio, who lived in the 1st century AC, tells us how the habit of burning particular herbs, with supposed medical virtues, was popular, along with the ‘inhaling’ of its smoke by means of stems."

Worldwide famous Master Pipe Maker Domenico Giordano from Badalucco, who has been a pipe maker for over 50 years, will preside over the event presenting an exhibition of his briar and olive pipes. Everybody is welcome to the meeting, lady smokers included. French writer Franc Nohain (1873–1934) said: “in the gestures related to pipe smoking, in the way of holding it and of caressing its bowl, there is an expression of wellness and of certainty and bliss, which the best cigarette will never give you. And women, so pride of smoking cigarettes, will never really be equal to men, if not when will bravely approach pipe smoking”.

Permanent exhibition all year round at Grand Hotel Des Anglais, Corso Imperatrice - Sanremo. More information visit: http://www.orchestraprincipatodiseborga.com/ or http://www.giordanopipe.it/