What is Deiva Marina known for?

Square and round watchtowers from the sixteenth century, defence against Barbary raids, both on the commune's coat of arms. The Genoa-La Spezia line opened the seafront to settlement for the first time, creating modern Deiva Marina around the station. Longest stretch of bathing beach between Sestri Levante and the Cinque Terre, the reason the commune draws Genovese summer crowds.

Where is Deiva Marina?

Deiva Marina is a comune in the province of La Spezia, Liguria region of Italy, about 58 kilometers from Genova.

Liguria · La Spezia

Deiva Marina

A Riviera di Levante seaside commune between Sestri Levante and the Cinque Terre, reachable by sea only after the 1874 railway.

58 km / 36 mi

Nearest hub (Genova)

1,268

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Borghi più belli d'Italia

Why come

Deiva Marina sits at the bottom of the valley that runs from Monte San Nicolao, eight hundred meters up, down to the Ligurian Sea, fifty kilometers east of Genoa. The territory is first documented in a Carolingian imperial diploma of 774. For most of its history Deiva was inland: small villages of Mezzema, Piazza, Passano and Caraschi were built up the slope because the coastal plain flooded and because Muslim Barbary raids made the seafront uninhabitable. Two sixteenth-century watchtowers, a square Saracen tower beside the church of Sant'Antonio Abate and a round tower near the sea, were the only fortifications. The round tower was partly demolished by a flash flood in 1852. The town only became reachable by sea after the Genoa-La Spezia railway was completed in 1874; the seafront grew up around the new station with a hotel called Albergo Savoia. The beach and bays now anchor the commune; Sant'Antonio Abate in the original centro storico is still the parish church.

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Gallery

6 photos · scroll →

Known for

Torre Saracena
Sixteenth-century square watchtower beside the church of Sant'Antonio Abate, on the coat of arms of the commune.
Chiesa di Sant'Antonio Abate
Parish church in the original inland centro storico, dedicated to the Egyptian hermit, beside the surviving Saracen tower.
Spiaggia di Deiva Marina
Long shallow sand and shingle beach below the railway station, the largest beach between Sestri Levante and the Cinque Terre.
Sentiero verso Framura
Coastal trail south to Framura on the disused railway corridor, three kilometers of seaside path on the old rail bed.
Frazioni inland
Mezzema, Piazza, Passano and Caraschi on the slopes above the seafront, the medieval villages that pre-date the 1874 railway.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

May through September is the beach season: the bay opens around mid-May, water temperatures climb through June, and by August the seafront fills with Genovese and Milanese families. The Cinque Terre next door pulls day-trippers off the train through the summer. April and October are the shoulder months when the inland frazioni walks are pleasant and the beach is still warm enough for swimming on a calm day. November through March is quiet. Some restaurants and rental rooms close. Winter storms occasionally close the coastal path to Framura. The valley keeps mild temperatures even in January but the beach itself goes empty.