Ospedaletti Riviera dei Fiori

The old village (a few fishermen houses, a little church dedicated to St. John the Baptist and, annexed to it, a simple shelter to give accommodation to pilgrims and way farers-hence the name of the village), was founded by the legendary Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, later Knights of Rhodes and then Knights of Malta and is all built on the seashore. The new part of the town with its villas, its hotels, suitable to all kinds of tourist demand, its holidays apartments, its welcoming bars and restaurants, is set among palm groves, eucalyptus, mimosas and gardens in bloom. Once patronized bythe international high society, both the aristocracy of central Europe and the elite of world culture (Villa Sultana was the first gambling casino in Italy; already open in 1886, it was closed in 1924)