The wall must be preserved and protected, thus some regulations regarding the affixing of the tiles on the Muretto were created in recent years. These regulations establish how to obtain the naming of a tile and how the approval and grant process take place.
In order to be approved for affixing, a new tile must first of all improve the image of the Muretto itself and enhance it. Its approval is evaluated by a commission composed of a member of the Foundation and by a delegate of the local administration.
In addition, the tile must comply with the ‘stylistic’ indications dictated by the commission and it may not be accepted if not compliant.
The idea of embellishing and decorating this wall that surrounds a public park came to the owner of a nearby café who, seen the flow of important people to the town, proposed the idea to the City Hall in the late 1940s. The idea immediately found the favor of the City Council and even the financial support of the American writer Ernest Hemingway, who was often visiting the town and who was an habitual coffee-drinker at the aforementioned café.
Still without a special authorization from the Municipality of Alassio, the first three ceramic tiles, made by a local ceramicist and signed by a few famous Italian singers, were almost secretly affixed at the beginning of the 1950s.
Since the tiles embellished the wall, no disciplinary action or intention of removal was moved by the municipality and that convinced the creators to continue their work with other additions. Day after day, other colorful tiles reporting the signatures of the most illustrious clients of the café increased the popularity of this decorated wall. Soon many big shots of cinema, television, fashion, entertainment and sport visiting the city got interested in having their names on the wall and the tiles are now close to one thousand.
The bronze statue of the Lovers, work of the sculptor Eros Pellini, was placed on the wall at a later time and Alassio became the only Italian city to boast the nickname of Città degli Innamorati or city of lovers.
An ancient legend tells, in fact, that a few centuries before the year 1000, Adelasia, the daughter of Otto I of Saxony, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, was in love with a young boy and that the emperor was not happy with this love since the boy didn’t have royal blood but, after many vicissitudes, the two married anyway and ran away. In the place where Adelasia and the young boy established, a city rose up, which in honor of the princess was called Alaxia, later Alassio.
There is a red mailbox on the wall now and every year a contest is held to award the best love letter.
The initiative was born from an idea of a local painter whose father was the owner of the Roma coffee house, meeting place for famous people, but also for young people who often met here and found love in this place, leaving love notes on the wall of the café.
That's how the idea of placing a mailbox to collect all the messages and letters was born. The beautiful words collected, then, inspired the birth of the competition and now, every year, the love missives, which come from all over Europe, are judged by a prestigious jury and the twenty most beautiful letters are awarded and read out loud on Valentine’s day.
The famous Muretto, the colorful tiles, the Lovers statue and the mailbox
