The Muretto di Alassio — "the little wall of Alassio" — stands in the public gardens on the seafront promenade and consists of a low wall covered in colourful ceramic tiles, each signed by a celebrity who visited the town. The project began in 1953 when café owner Mario Berrino persuaded Ernest Hemingway to sign a tile, and it snowballed from there: over the following decades, writers, actors, musicians, and sportspeople added their names. There are now over 550 tiles, ranging from Hemingway and Charlie Chaplin to Louis Armstrong, Jean Cocteau, and ski racer Alberto Tomba.
The wall is kitsch in the best possible way. It is not trying to be the Hollywood Walk of Fame; it is the record of a seaside café's illustrious clientele, frozen in ceramic. The tiles are handmade, colourful, and often incorporate a small drawing or symbol alongside the signature. Worth 15 minutes of anyone's time. In 2013 an adjacent wall was added featuring ceramic plates depicting celebrities' pets.