Liguria · Savona
Laigueglia
A former coral-fishing village on the Riviera di Ponente, with a curved Baroque parish church and a fishermen's grid of caruggi behind the beach.
Known for
CORAL FISHERY
Seventeenth-century economy ran on coral fished off Corsica and Sardinia, drawing Catalan settlers and funding the Baroque churches.
BANDIERA BLU BEACH
Sheltered sandy litoraneo between Capo Mele and Capo Santa Croce, awarded for water quality and management.
CHIESA DI SAN MATTEO
Eighteenth-century Baroque parish church with a curved façade and altarpieces by Strozzi, Castellino Castello and De Ferrari.
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: Matteo, 21 September
Why come
Laigueglia sits at six meters on the Riviera di Ponente, sheltered between Capo Mele and Capo Santa Croce. The name comes from Aquilia, a reference to the Roman eagle standards, and the village grew from a settlement of fishermen who came over from neighboring Andora. Genoa bought the borough in 1609.
Through the seventeenth century the local economy ran on shipbuilding and the coral fishery, which drew Catalan fishermen to settle in numbers and helped pay for the Baroque churches that anchor the centro storico. The Chiesa di San Matteo, eighteenth-century, has a curved façade and holds altarpieces by the Genoese masters Bernardo Strozzi, Castellino Castello and Andrea De Ferrari. The Oratorio di Santa Maria Maddalena from 1616 contains a wooden choir and a Domenico Piola altarpiece. The Litorale carries the Bandiera Blu, and the fishermen's grid behind it still reads as caruggi, small squares opening to the sea, and houses painted in pale violet and ochre.
The Sunday letter
We haven’t written Laigueglia’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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What to see
Chiesa di San Matteo
Eighteenth-century Baroque parish church with a curved façade, housing altarpieces by Bernardo Strozzi, Castellino Castello and Andrea De Ferrari.
Oratorio di Santa Maria Maddalena
1616 oratory of the Confraternita dei Disciplinanti, with a carved wooden choir and an altarpiece by Domenico Piola.
Centro storico
Fishermen's grid of caruggi behind the beachfront, with houses painted in the pale lilac and ochre traditional to the Ponente coast.
Litorale di Laigueglia
Sandy beachfront awarded the Bandiera Blu in 2025, sheltered between Capo Mele and Capo Santa Croce.
Torri saracene
Sixteenth-century watchtowers on the seafront, built to spot Saracen and Barbary ships before they could land.
The slow-trip planner
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Living here
- Population 1,705
- Commuter belti
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest airport Genoa, 1 h 20 min drive
- Regional capital Genova, 1 h 25 min drive
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
Recognised as
The numbers
- Elevation: 6 m
- Population: 1,705
- Surface area: 2.72 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.
Close by
More towns near Laigueglia
Andora
Province: Savona
A Riviera town with two faces, two kilometers of sandy beach on the Aurelia and a ruined twelfth-century castle hidden on a hill behind it.
Cervo
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A hilltop village on the Riviera di Ponente built by coral fishermen, named for the Roman mansio on the Via Julia Augusta.
Zuccarello
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A 280-person medieval borgo in the Neva valley above Albenga, founded by the Marquises of Clavesana in 1248, birthplace of Ilaria del Carretto.
Diano
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Toirano
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