Record Atlas
6 eras · 1139–2026 · 8 places

Western Riviera — Ventimiglia, Bordighera and Sanremo

Ventimiglia, Bordighera, Vallecrosia, Sanremo. Which empire held this ground in which years — and, the part that matters, which archive that means.

Whose archive this ground was

YearsWho held itWhose archive that means
1139–1505 County of Ventimiglia under Genoa; Sanremo under Genoese bishops, the Doria and De Mari no registers survive

Genoa forced Ventimiglia to surrender in 1139 and the count kept the city as a Genoese vassal; the Lascaris dynasty of Tenda began in 1269. Sanremo was first under the County of Ventimiglia, then under the Genoese bishops, and was sold to the Doria and De Mari families in 1297; it became a free town in the second half of the 15th century.
1505–1797 Republic of Genoa (Ventimiglia); Sanremo independent of Genoa Archivio di Stato di Imperia · Archivio di Stato di Imperia — sezione di sanremo · Archivio di Stato di Imperia — sezione di ventimiglia · FamilySearch

Ventimiglia was annexed to the Genoese Republic in 1505. Sanremo stayed independent of Genoa and rose against Genoese attempts at control in 1753, after which Genoa built the Santa Tecla fortress.
1797–1805 Ligurian Republic Archivio di Stato di Imperia · FamilySearch

Napoleon took Genoa in May 1797 and the Ligurian Republic was founded in June 1797.
1805–1814 French Empire — departments of Apennins, Gênes and Montenotte Archivio di Stato di Imperia · FamilySearch

France annexed the Ligurian territory in June 1805 as the departments of Apennins, Gênes and Montenotte.
1814–1861 Kingdom of Sardinia Archivio di Stato di Imperia · Archivio di Stato di Imperia — sezione di sanremo · Archivio di Stato di Torino · Antenati · FamilySearch

After the Savoy restoration in 1814 Sanremo was annexed to the Kingdom of Sardinia; the Liguria territory was awarded to Piedmont-Sardinia on 3 January 1815 after the Congress of Vienna.
1861–2026 Kingdom and Republic of Italy Archivio di Stato di Imperia · Archivio di Stato di Imperia — sezione di sanremo · Archivio di Stato di Imperia — sezione di ventimiglia · Antenati · FamilySearch

National civil registration began in 1866 in northern and central Italy; many state-archive civil registers are on Antenati.

The rings are approximate — deliberately. They exist to shade which filing system a place fell under, not to adjudicate a border. A place near a ring's edge should be checked against both neighbours.

See the whole span, 1139–2026, on the map →

The map takes a range, and a range that crosses one of the rows above is where records get lost: the family never moved, and the archive on the far side of the handover will tell you it holds nothing.

8 places on this ground

258 FamilySearch collections reach this ground

Ranked with the regional ones first — a collection for a province is usually a better lead than a national index, though the national index is often where a name is actually written down. A free account opens the images.

…and 198 more.

All record regions · The map