Sestri Levante

Riviera of Levante is not only Portofino and Cinque Terre. There are resorts, as Sestri Levante, that are able to show great attractions from every point of views (environment, history, arts, etc.).

The elder Segesta Tigulliorum recalled by Plinio nowadays goes towards the sea with the "Promontorio dell'Isola". Once it was surrounded by the sea, then it was joined to the coast by a isthmus that was the result of detritus accumulation from the torrents Gromolo and Petronio and was fully formed around 1300 A.D..

The new assect of the coast created the Gulf of Ponente, called "Bay of the Fables", and that of Levante, the "Bay of Silence", so named by the poet Giovanni De Scalzo. This latter bay, because of the transparency of the sea, the natural beauty of its position and the picturesque houses which surround it, was the favourite resort of many famous visitors; among others Lord Byron, Goethe, Wagner, Hans C. Andersen, who gives name to a prize for writers of fables here awarded on April.

Just on the summit of the promontory there are the ruins of a Genoese castle built in 1440: The tower is now still standing, and was utilized by Marconi for his experiments. In 1947 the ruins were included in the Grand Hotel dei Castelli.

But the real symbol of the promontory is the Romanesque cusped steeple of the Saint Nicolò church showing towards east Punta Manara, the end of the Tigullio Gulf.

Various buildings of Sestri Levante still retain gothic elements: just on the isthmus, in Piazza Matteotti, there is the parish church of Saint Mary of Nazareth dates from the 17th century, but with a neoclassic façade; inside you can see a sculpture by Francesco Maria Schiaffino and paintings by Domenico Fiasella.

Nearby we come across the 16th century turreted palace and the Palazzo Durazzo Pallavicini (or Bishop's Palace), today the town hall.

Notwithstanding its modern turistic structures, Sestri Levante still retains a profound sea tradition; originally it was in fact a little fishing village. So, at sunset, the ancient typical boat, called "leudi", still rest in the shadow of its beaches.