From the railway station of Arma di Taggia, some miles east of San Remo, an expedition may be made about five miles up the valley to the exquisitely quaint old town of TAGGIA. It concentrates in itself all the various remarkable features of the towns of the Riviera in its arcaded streets and vaulted footpaths, narrow lanes crossed with arches, and approached by steep stairs and dark tunnels; and these features are here all combined in so profuse and picturesque a manner as to present an epitome of those of all the rest. In the midst of these striking general [Illustration: FIG. 275. CLOISTERS, ST CRISTOFERO, TAGGIA.] [Illustration: FIG. 276. CHURCH AT ALASSIO.] effects, so captivating to the artist, it is difficult, however, to pick out anything which may be regarded as really good architecture. Fig. 272 gives some idea of the picturesqueness of the arcaded streets and gateways, while Figs. 273 and 274 give a few good architectural details. The first (Fig. 273) might, from its style, be the lintel of any fifteenth century house in Genoa (a splendid example of a similar style of doorway at Genoa being shown in Fig. 281), and the other (Fig. 274) is a Renaissance doorway in black marble ornamented with raised arabesques. Close to the town is the monastery of San Cristofero, where the ancient cloister and tower (Fig. 275) are good specimens of early Italian work. The vaulting of [Illustration: FIG. 277. TOWERS AND WEST END OF CHURCH, ALBENGA.] the cloister is late, the original roof being probably of timber. The tower is a good Italian campanile, with string courses of the arcaded ornament so common in Lombardy and the Rhineland. [Illustration: FIG. 278. ALBENGA (_from Railway Station_).] We are now in the centre of the district which suffered so severely from the earthquakes of 1887. BUSSANA is passed on the right in returning to the railway. The towns of PORTO MAURIZIO (which stands on a solitary rock), ONEGLIA, and DIANO MARINA, all names too well known in connection with the above catastrophe, are reached in succession before arriving at ALASSIO, the furthest east of the health resorts of the Riviera. The tower of the church here (Fig. 276) has the usual form of the Italian campanile. A few miles further east bring us to ALBENGA, which is, architecturally speaking, the most interesting town on this part of the coast. It lies in a hollow near the mouth of the river Acosia, and is defended from the cold winds of the North by an amphitheatre of lofty, snow-clad mountains. The general view of the town from the [Illustration: FIG. 279. TOWER AT NORTH-EAST OF CHURCH, ALBENGA.]