Is the “Muretto” a monument? Of course it is. It is the symbol of Alassio’s jet set, the symbol of the Alassio which renews itself and yet keeps to the course set by its dearest traditions.
In fact even today the society life in Alassio has its centre in the “muretto “ of via Dante. 
It is decorated and coloured by tiles which the great names in art, show business and sport of the second half of the twentieth century have given to Alassio. The heritage of the Dolce Vita which animated the Alassio of the fifties is dedicated to the tourists and the girls who take part in the beauty contest “Miss Muretto” at the end of August.

Here is how the idea of the “muretto” came about in the words of Mario Berrino, the celebrated painter from Alassio: ”Before it became famous, the “muretto” was a little rustic wall supporting the public gardens. I was tormented by the idea of giving it some grace by adorning it.
The opportunity came when Hemingway stopped at Alassio and became enthusiastic at the idea of applying on the little wall some irregular tiles in different and lively colours bearing the signatures of the best known customers of the Caffè Roma.
Together with Hemingway we also placed the tiles of the Quartetto Cetra and Cosimo Di Celie: Those were the first three.
It was the year 1951. And the amusement became a legend.

A grand monument to art, culture and fashion like an immense autograph album, it added many other signatures through the years:

Michele Alboreto, Marisa Allasio, Josè Altafini, Angelillo, Maurizio Arena, Christian Barnard, Gino Bartali, Isa e Pippo Barzizza, Pippo Baudo, Loredana Bertè, Roberto Bettega, Max Biaggi, Alfredo Binda, Mike Bongiorno, Fred Bongusto, Giampiero Boniperti, Liam Breìady, Giorgio Bubba, Edy Campagnoli, Loris Capirossi, Ivan Capelli, Nicolò Carosio, Renato Carosone, Adriano Celentano, Gino Cervi, Piero Chiara, Walter Chiari, Leo Chiosso, Jean Cocteau, Licia Colò, Febo Conti, Fausto Coppi, Corrado, Avier Cugat, Lucio Dalla, Carlo D’Apporto, Fabrizio De Andrè, Lorella De Luca, Vittorio De Sica, Adriano De Zan, Pedro Paolo Diniz, Anita Ekberg, Sergio Endrigo, Aldo Fabrizi, Franco Fasano, Nunzio Filogamo, Salvatore Fiume, Lucio Flauto, Dario Fo, Giorgio Gaber, Beniamino Gigli, Gilberto Govi, Giovanni Guareschi, Grok, Thor Heyerdhal, Ezo Jannacci, Gorni Kramer, Gino Latilla, Carlo Levi, Duilio Loi, Erminio Macario, Paoletta Magoni, la Nazionale di Calcio Campione del Mondo nel 1982, Nino Manfredi, Nando Martellini, Davide Mengacci, Milena Milani, Mina, Domenico Modugno, Sandra Mondaini, Silvio Noto, Wanda Osiris, Adriano Panatta, Gino Paoli, Fausto Papetti, Raymond Peynet, Paola Pezzo, Nilla Pizzi, Platinette, Jacques Prevert, Salvatore Quasimodo, Franca Rame, Renato Rascel, Teddy Reno, Antonio Ricci, Valentino Rossi, Antonio Rosso, Maria Teresa Ruta, Nantas Salvalaggio, Delia Scala, Tino Scotti, Enrico Simonetti, Omar Sivori, Luisito Suarez, Harada Tetsuya, Tiberio Timperi, Achille Togliani, Ugo Tognazzi, Alberto Tomba, Tonina Torielli, Enzo Tortora, Raf Vallone, Antonello Venditti, Simona Ventura, Claudio Villa, Ezio Zerniani, ...

Also the festival of people in love finds its space on the Muretto of Alassio: lost loves and re-found ones, love pains and stories with happy ending.
On St Valentine day people in love meet below the famous work by Raymond Peynet “les Amoureux” to enjoy the poetical atmosphere created by the best love letters posted into the letter box on the “muretto” near the statue of the lovers made by the sculptor Eros Pellini.

Web site of Miss Muretto: www.missmuretto.com