Cervo (Italy) - Cervo (Italia)

Deer
Cervo - View from the sea
StateItaly
RegionLiguria
TerritoryRiviera di Ponente
Altitude66 m a.s.l.
Surface3.59 km²
Inhabitants1.129 (2011 census)
Name inhabitantsCervesi
Prefix tel 39 0183
POSTAL CODE18010
Time zone UTC 1
PatronSt. John the Baptist (June 24)
Position
Map of Italy
Reddot.svg
Deer
Institutional website
Disambig colour.svg
Disambiguation - For toponyms of identical name, see Deer (disambiguation).

Deer is a center of the Liguria.

To know

The town is one of the most beautiful villages in Italy.

Geographical notes

It is located on a promontory at the mouth of the Cervo stream, along the Steria valley, in a beautiful panoramic position overlooking the sea. It is 3 km from Diano Marina, 9 from Imperia, 14 from Alassio, 20 from Albenga.

Background

Center of the Ligurian Ingauni, then Roman, it had a certain importance for its dominant position and for being equipped with water sources. In the following period it was exposed to assaults by Saracen pirates (end of the 9th, first half of the 10th century). It was a free municipality in 1204 and entrusted itself to the protection of Genoa which assigned it as a fief to the Knights of Malta. Sold the following year to Lazzaro Doria, it ended up conquered by Enrico Del Carretto, to return to Genoa in 1384. The flourishing commercial activity of coral, in which Cervo had specialized, still earned the town pirate attacks in the sixteenth century.

With the fall of the Republic of Genoa, the historical path of the town was the same as that of the whole region.

How to orient yourself


How to get

By plane

  • Cristoforo Colombo Airport in Genoa. It is connected to the Genova Brignole railway station with the Volabus, a bus service calibrated for national and international arrivals.

Direct flights: Milan Malpensa, Turin, Cagliari, Naples, Palermo, Catania, Alghero, Olbia, Trapani, Trieste, Rome Fiumicino International flights: London Stansted, Paris CDG, Cologne, Munich, Brussels, Amsterdam, Barcelona, ​​Istanbul. 


By car

  • Tollbooth at San Bartolomeo al Mare on the highway some flowersGenoa - Ventimiglia.
  • It is affected by the State 1 Aurelia.

On the train

It shares the railway station on the line Genoa - Ventimiglia with San Bartolomeo al Mare.

How to get around


What see

Clavesana Castle
  • Clavesana Castle. The building was born mainly as a fortified church, dedicated to Saint Catherine of Alexandria, on the highest hill of the Cervese village. Only later, around the thirteenth century, the Marquises of Clavesana, lords of the territory, made it their castle-marquis palace by incorporating an antecedent tower in Romanesque style into the construction.

In its history it was used for the most diverse uses: in addition to an oratory, the rooms below housed the hospital built by the Knights of Rhodes, which was dedicated to Saint Anthony the Abbot. The building was built entirely of stone with a rectangular plan and completed with the four towers at the edges of the structure.

Today the upper floor is dedicated to art exhibitions during the summer, while the rooms on the first floor, as well as the Tourist Information Office, are home to the Ethnographic Museum of Western Liguria - Franco Ferrero. The museum exhibition, set up in the eighties of the twentieth century, presents daily life scenes of the nineteenth century relating to crafts, agriculture, seafaring and home, with special tools animated by mannequins dressed in period costumes.  


Church of San Giovanni Battista
Pulpit
  • 1 Parish church of San Giovanni Battista (Corallini Church). It is called by the inhabitants Corallini Church why coral workers participated largely in its financing during construction between the 17th and 18th centuries; in Baroque style, it represents one of the best examples of its kind in the region. The urban contour - square and stairway - was built in 1748. In the following years the decorations were made: stuccos, decorations of the facade (which has a concave shape), and finally in 1771 the bell tower. The interior has a single nave, with altars and side chapels.
The altars hold works by Bernardo Gaggino (sculptures from the altar of the Souls in purgatory of the eighteenth century), Marcantonio Poggio (wooden group of San Giovanni Battista of the seventeenth century), Anton Maria Maragliano (statue of the Madonna of the Rosary and of Immaculate Madonna - 17th / 18th century), Giovanni Lorenzo Bertolotto (canvas Vergine del Soccorso with Sant'Erasmo and Santa Chiara of the eighteenth century).
The pulpit dates back to the 16th century and is in white marble with paneled sculptures of San Giorgio and San Giovanni Battista, with a Pity front. The baptismal font is from the seventeenth century, while the tabernacle of the high altar dates back to the fifteenth century. 
Church of San Nicola da Tolentino
Church of San Nicola da Tolentino
  • 2 Church of San Nicola da Tolentino. Tradition has it that it was built on an ancient pagan temple. It was the country's first cathedral, and was named after St. George of Cappadocia. It was rebuilt several times due to the destruction it suffered. It was finally sold to the Augustinian friars of the Consolation of Genoa, with the commitment that they would bring the church back to usability (it had been abandoned) and build a convent next to it; the works were completed in 1750. Dedicated to Santa Maria delle Grazie, in 1798 the convent was closed following the edict of Napoleon Bonaparte. Around the mid-nineteenth century it was dedicated to San Nicola da Tolentino.

The main altar of the church, in polychrome marble, comes from the convent of Santa Caterina di Finalborgo. The bell tower is from 1668. 

  • Morchio Palace (city ​​Hall). It is a construction of the late seventeenth century; it was built by Falcone Morchio, Senator of the Genoese republic. The Morchio family was one of the most illustrious in the country; documented since the thirteenth century, it counts among its characters from Cervia Tommaso Morchio, admiral of the Republic of Genoa who conquered the island of Malta and the city of Mazara del Vallo in Sicily. It has a Genoese-style slate portal. It is now the seat of the Municipality of Cervo. 


Frescoes in Santa Caterina
  • Oratory of Santa Caterina d'Alessandria. The oratory was built during the 13th century on the initiative of the Knights Hospitallers. After the creation of a new parish community for the villages of San Bartolomeo al Mare, and therefore the separation from the parish church of San Giorgio di Cappadocia (the current church of San Nicola da Tolentino), in 1505 the inhabitants of Cervo chose this Romanesque place of worship as the new seat of the parish.
It is in this period that new interventions should therefore be sought to adapt the thirteenth-century layout to the new needs: new side chapels were opened, in particular in the area to the left of the oratory, then demolished in the course of the nineteenth century; the original roof in visible shaped beams was hidden in favor of a new dense vault with the frescoed decorations of the Virgin Mary, St. John the Baptist and St. George; large windows are obtained after the transformation of some single lancet windows on the right side; the construction of a new marble altar, to replace the previous one, perhaps wooden; the entire plastering of the walls with the consequent covering of the exposed stone.
Subsequent and modern interventions of recovery and restoration have allowed the oratory of Santa Caterina to return to the Romanesque style and architectural forms, canceling any reinterpretation made in the sixteenth century. The current structure has a single nave construction in freestone, with an adjoining side chapel. The attached bell tower dates back to the 17th century.
Inside, however, it preserves some cycles of frescoes from the sixteenth century, including one depicting Saint George slaying the dragon placed at the entrance of the former oratory. 


Events and parties

  • Patronal feast of San Giovanni Battista. Simple icon time.svgJune 24. 
  • International Chamber Music Festival, Piazza dei Corallini. Simple icon time.svgIn July and August. Outdoor evening concerts held by prestigious performers. 
  • Fair of Santa Caterina d'Alessandria. Simple icon time.svgLast Sunday of November. 


What to do

Cervo has a beach with both sand and gravel sections with free access areas. It also owns the cliffs of Porteghetto and of Ciappellette; other cliffs to the east are accessible only from the sea, and are highly sought after by naturists and divers, who find here rocky bottoms and crystal clear water.

Cervo also offers equipped beaches.

Bathing facilities


Shopping

  • In its territory an excellent olive oil is produced; Cervo is part of theNational Association City of oil.
  • San Giorgio wine shop, Via Volta, 19, ☎ 39 0183-400175. Sale of typical local products, oil, olives, jams and preserves 
  • Il Poggetto, Via dei Clavesana, 1, ☎ 39 338 9593679. Farm selling oil, olives and typical products. 
  • Historic oil mill, Traversa Corallini, 2, ☎ 39 389 5585750. Direct sale of oil, olives and preserves, also in baskets and gift boxes, food, fruit and vegetables. 


How to have fun


Where to eat

Average prices

In the historic center

To the Navy


Where stay

Moderate prices

Campsites

Average prices

Bed & Breakfast


Safety

Italian traffic signs - pharmacy icon.svgPharmacy


How to keep in touch

Post office

  • 2 Italian post, Via Aurelia 70, ☎ 39 0183 406278, fax: 39 0183408080. 


Around


Other projects

  • Collaborate on WikipediaWikipedia contains an entry concerning Cervo (Italy)
  • Collaborate on CommonsCommons contains images or other files on Cervo (Italy)
2-4 star.svgUsable : the article respects the characteristics of a draft but in addition it contains enough information to allow a short visit to the city. Use i correctly listing (the right type in the right sections).