The patron of Bordighera is Saint Ampelio. He was a hermit born in the Thebaid, or perhaps at Arezzo; having arrived here, he chose the cape that now bears his name and lived there among the rocks, in a cave, on prayer, penance and work. The Benedictines later built a church above that place, and it is still there: the Romanesque core is 11th-century, and the crypt, lit by small windows onto the sea, keeps a block of Turbie stone that legend calls his bed, the one on which he died on 5 October 428.
Legend also credits him with the first date palm seeds, brought from Egypt: that is why the town can call itself Queen of the palms. The celebrations begin a few days earlier and reach their peak on the 14th, with the procession and the fireworks launched from Capo Sant'Ampelio. The saint's body returned to Bordighera on 16 August 1947 and lies in the parish of Santa Maria Maddalena, in the old town.
