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Stemma di Celle Ligure

Liguria · Savona

Celle Ligure

A Riviera di Ponente beach town with kilns firing since the 1600s and a Lucio Fontana ceramic on the parish church façade.

Known for

  • CERAMIC WORKSHOPS

    Working kilns since the seventeenth century, recognized as a Città della Ceramica of ancient tradition in 2019.

  • BANDIERA BLU

    Beach flag first awarded in 1989 and uninterrupted from 1996, more than three decades of recognition for the coast.

  • LUCIO FONTANA FAÇADE

    Ceramic Assumption with San Michele and the dragon on the parish façade, one of Fontana's public ceramic works installed in his native Liguria.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

  • J
  • F
  • M
  • A
  • M
  • J
  • J
  • A
  • S
  • O
  • N
  • D
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

The festa: Michele, 29 September

Why come

Celle Ligure sits at sea level on the Riviera di Ponente, ten kilometers west of Savona. The Aleramici marquises gave the lands to a Piedmontese monastery in 1014; the Genovese families took them over within a generation. The Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo carries a ceramic Assumption by Lucio Fontana on its façade, with the saint defeating the dragon, and inside hangs a Via Crucis by Aurelio Caminati alongside ceramic stations by Emanuele Luzzati.

The town has been firing ceramics since the seventeenth century; the Ministry of Economic Development recognized it as a Città della Ceramica with ancient tradition in 2019, and a handful of artisan kilns still work the streets behind the lungomare. The beach holds Bandiera Blu without interruption from 1996 to today, after a first award in 1989, and the centro storico is one of the Borghi più belli d'Italia. Pope Sixtus IV's family came from here.

The Sunday letter

We haven’t written Celle Ligure’s letter yet.

One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.

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Celle Ligure — photo 1
Celle Ligure — photo 2

What to see

  • Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo

    Main parish church with a ceramic Assumption by Lucio Fontana on the façade, a Via Crucis by Caminati and ceramic stations by Emanuele Luzzati inside.

  • Centro storico

    Borgo of narrow caruggi behind the lungomare, with active artisan ceramic workshops and ceramic shop signs on the buildings themselves.

  • Spiaggia di Celle Ligure

    Sand and gravel beach with Bandiera Blu since 1989 and uninterrupted from 1996, the basis of the town's summer economy.

  • Piazza dei Mille

    Seafront square at the heart of the lower town, named for Garibaldi's expedition and the central point of the lungomare.

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Living here

  • Population 4,873
  • Commuter belti
  • Pharmacy in town
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Nearest airport Genoa, 35 min drive
  • Regional capital Genova, 40 min drive
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 5 m
  • Population: 4,873
  • Surface area: 9.56 km²

These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

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🎨 Borghi più belli d'Italia

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