The coral fishermen's church on the sea
Between Diano Marina and Andora, on a hill rising directly above the sea, Cervo is one of the most beautiful villages on the Ligurian Riviera, one of the "Borghi più belli d'Italia", a compact medieval village of narrow lanes, stairways and covered passages, with pastel-coloured houses climbing up the slope from the beach to the top, crowned by the castle of the Clavesana marquises, of the thirteenth century, which today houses the ethnographic museum of western Liguria. From the lanes and terraces of the village the views over the sea and the coast are splendid.
The symbol of the village is the church of San Giovanni Battista, known as the "Chiesa dei Corallini", the coral fishermen's church, one of the masterpieces of Ligurian baroque, built in the eighteenth century with the money of the local fishermen, who fished for precious red coral off the coasts of Sardinia, Corsica and North Africa. Its elegant concave façade of pink and white plaster, overlooking a small square open to the sea, is a spectacular sight, especially at sunset. In front of the church, on summer evenings, the square becomes the stage of the International Chamber Music Festival, founded in 1964 by the great Hungarian violinist Sándor Végh, who fell in love with the village and its acoustics; for decades, the most famous musicians in the world have played here, against the backdrop of the church and the sea. Below the village, a pebble beach and the seafront promenade offer a place to swim.
Tip: attend a concert of the festival in July and August, booking in advance; climb to the castle for the view.
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