キャロの洞窟・トップ4

Salino is a small village in the Vara Valley, nestled on a hill overlooking woods and valleys. Next to the church of Sant'Andrea Apostolo stands a recently restored medieval tower, which for centuries had remained hidden or incorporated into the village's structures. Today, once again visible, it tells the story of the town's most ancient history: that of a settlement founded to defend and control the territory, at a strategic point between the coast and the Apennines. The tower and the church form an evocative ensemble, typical of Ligurian villages where the sacred and the secular intertwine. From the churchyard, the view opens out over the valley, amidst meadows and chestnut groves, in a silence that reveals all the discreet charm of the hinterland.

The toponym Suvero seems to derive from the Latin word supernus (superior, placed above) and recalls its privileged strategic position of control, between the Vara valley and the Lunigiana. Dominating the village of Suvero is the castle, along the road that leads to the Passo dei Casoni. When the Marquis Rinaldo Malaspina received the investiture as lord of the fiefdom of Suvero in 1549, he decided to expand and renovate the previous castle, already four centuries old. A defensive and then residential position for the Malaspina family, the castle was abandoned by its owners after 1797 with the end of the imperial lordships decreed by the new Napoleonic French domination. In recent years, the castle of Suvero, for the third time in its very long history, has been completely restored and is currently used as a private residence. Therefore, the castle cannot be visited. The church of San Giovanni Battista, stands right in front of the castle, and shows clear traces of subsequent renovations. It has a cross-shaped structure and in the crypt it preserves a white marble bas-relief of the Virgin and Child surrounded by music-making angels, which bears the date 1497 engraved on it.

The historic center of Varese Ligure is truly surprising in its urban structure, to the point of deserving the nickname Borgo Rotondo. The medieval building plan, which is due to the Fieschi, had a defensive purpose. In the center is the castle, with its high and sturdy walls. Around it, the houses are arranged in rows following the round curvature of the square, with porticos on the ground floor that allowed access to the shops and warehouses (some of which have now been transformed into public places). Also very interesting are the recently restored eighteenth-nineteenth century buildings with polychrome facades, which recall the pictorial decorations of the past. Furthermore, Varese Ligure is at the center of the Val di Vara biodistrict.

This mini park is accessible from the strada delle gallerie. Unfortunately, it is quite dirty, but it nestles with pretty views and an interesting stair access on the sea side as a good vantage point on the south-eastern hill of the Bay of Moneglia. It's worth a detour and a welcome break from the town center on a stormy day in Moneglia.

The original tower is part of the medieval city wall of Levanto around 1200. It served to protect against the Pisans.

The center of Varese Ligure is very beautiful with its arcade. We are in the organic capital