Savona - the Riviera delle Palme and its small towns
Varazze
A marina packed with pristine white sailing
boats, set against a backdrop of rocky peaks and cluster pines:
approaching Varazze from the coast road (the "Aurelia"), it is
easy to see why the Romans called it ad Navalia.
The name Varagine, coined as early as 967, had the same
meaning: woodland thick with excellent timber for boat building,
and beaches ideal for launching craft; the links between Varazze
and the sea are among the oldest and most stable to be found
anywhere in Liguria.
Not forgetting Varazze's shipyards, first and
foremost Baglietto, which have brought honor to this charming
town throughout the 20th century and beyond.
Of course, people eventually realized that the sea could be used for bathing,
revitalizing and warming their minds and bodies after a year of
wintry skies, or simply strolling along the palm-lined flowering
promenade. The era of vacationing had begun.
Today the beaches
of Varagine welcome tourists who travel to the Riviera
delle Palme to discover and cherish the charms of the
Mediterranean.
Before they reach the beaches, visitors are welcomed by the
citizens of Varazze itself, by its fishermen, hoteliers and
farmers from the hills: every year the local people open their
arms to all those who travel from Piedmont, Lombardy, Germany
and the rest of Europe to enjoy a well-earned holiday in
peaceful yet exciting surroundings, be their destination an
elegant four star hotel or a family-run pensione.
One can read the history of Varazze in the Mediaeval ramparts
which once encircled it. With the northern part still standing
today, the ramparts incorporate the ruins of the primitive
Romanesque church of Sant'Ambrogio, witness to the presence of
the church of Milan in Varazze in the early Middle Ages; the new
church of Sant'Ambrogio dates from the sixteenth century, but
its red bell tower survives from an earlier Romanesque-gothic
church built by the Lombards.
Also well worth a visit are the
churches of Santi Nazario e Celso, with its a risseu courtyard (decorated with colorful riverbed pebbles in
beautiful geometric and sea themed patterns), and San Domenico;
embedded in the facade of the latter is the cannonball which was
fired at the church from a French ship back in 1746.
A long, level promenade, first tarmac ked then unpaved, which
winds eastwards along the coast from the center of Varazze to
the mouth of the river Arrestra, easternmost boundary of the
Province of Savona. The handful of tunnels which break up the
stretch of road are a reminder that Varazze's Lungomare Europa
was once home to the old railway line.
It ran past broom tress packed with stunning yellow flowers,
dark thickets of holm oaks, the real lords of Mediterranean
maquis, the seafront terrace which plays host to the Ivrea
family's castle, and brief glimpses of elegant modern villas
hidden amid the green surroundings of Piani di Invrea.
The promenade tempts the visitor to take a dip in the cool,
invigorating waters or soak up the sun on one of the tiny,
deserted beaches where there is no room for umbrellas, and the
fantastical shapes of the cliffs mean inhibitions can be left
behind.
The Aurelia winds its way along tortuously and secretly, almost
disappearing way up high where this rocky stretch of the Varazze
coastline is at its wildest and stillest.
Varazze has been welcoming tourists for over a century, and the
town offers visitors the very best of the Riviera delle Palme in
terms of hotel accommodation, bathing establishments and sports
facilities.
All this is topped off by an exceptional all-year
round climate, with average temperatures ranging from 9°C in
January to 25°C in August; in the summer months the sea reaches
a balmy 26/27 degrees.
It is hard to believe that a small, "perfectly for
med" town like Varazze, blissfully free from the
chaos and unfriendliness of our larger cities, boasts more than
100 hotels to suit all tastes, from grand four star
establishments to the family-run pensione.
Not to mention the
town's many other tourist facilities, from holiday parks and
campsites from tents and caravans, to farms, condominiums and
private apartments.
An insider tip from Laura, touristic guide:
Varazze has been the subject of speculation constructions in the
years 1960-70, and is not really the best destination on the coast.
The Desert of Varazze:
The Desert of Varazze is thus called for its lack of
inhabitants. To reach the valley of the Arrestra, follow the
road up from Varazze to Casanova, then wind your way along the
bends which twist and turn around the seaward slope of Mount
Beigua. You will emerge in a landscape of untainted beauty,
thick with dark holm oaks and bay trees, a triumph of
Mediterranean maquis, waiting to be explored on foot or
horseback amid the deep silence of nature.
Celle shares its name with a pretty town in
the north of Germany.
There, trellised houses and baronial
castles speak to us of the lives and history of its inhabitants;
here, the colorful facades of the tall buildings which look out
over narrow caruggi or alleyways go to make in one of
Liguria's most charming and best-kept seaside villages.
Double
rows if centuries-old houses, painted in bright, brilliant
colors - enabling the fishermen of old to distinguish their
homes from the sea - a long, winding passageway, closed to
traffic and animated by a thousand-and-one tiny shops, by the
hubbub of passers-by, and then a long sandy beach lined with
multicolored bathing huts and sunshades joins the village to
the great blue plateau out yonder, stretching off to the east
towards the leafy new area of Piani di Celle and, beyond, to
Varazze.
Varazze
At the seaside - Photo © 
