What is Toirano known for?

Karst cave with 14,000-year-old human footprints of five Homo sapiens and a dog, plus the Cimitero degli Orsi cave-bear deposit. The Ursus spelaeus bone field discovered in 1950, one of the largest deposits of the extinct European cave bear in Italy. Karst valley behind the village, with climbing crags, the Museo Etnografico and walking routes into the hinterland of Loano.

Toirano is a comune in the province of Savona, Liguria region of Italy, about 87 kilometers from Genova.

Liguria · Savona

Toirano

A medieval village at the mouth of the Val Varatella, four kilometers inland from Loano, with karst caves holding 14,000-year-old human footprints.

87 km / 54 mi

Nearest hub (Genova)

2,680

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Toirano sits at the mouth of the Val Varatella, four kilometers inland from Loano on the Riviera di Ponente. The town's defining asset is underground: the Grotte di Toirano, a karst complex of four cavities discovered in 1950, two of them open to visitors. The Grotta della Bàsura preserves the bones of cave bears piled in a chamber called the Cimitero degli Orsi and a set of human footprints dated to roughly 14,000 years ago, made by five Homo sapiens and a dog walking together through the cave. The village above the caves has the layout of a fortified borgo of the Genoese hinterland, with narrow streets, a thirteenth-century parish church, and a Museo Etnografico documenting the agriculture of the Varatella valley. The combination of cave science and coastal proximity sends roughly 70,000 paying visitors underground each year.

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Gallery

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Known for

Grotte di Toirano
Karst cave complex of four cavities, two open to visitors, with concretions of stalactites and the cave-bear deposits of the Bàsura.
Grotta della Bàsura
Cave discovered in 1950, holding human and animal footprints dated to about 14,000 years ago and the Cimitero degli Orsi bear-bone deposit.
Museo Etnografico della Val Varatella
Civic museum on rural life in the Varatella valley, with tools, looms and reconstructions of farmhouse interiors.
Chiesa di San Martino
Parish church with thirteenth-century origins and later baroque rebuilds, on the main piazza of the centro storico.
Centro storico
Tight medieval village under the Varatella gorge, with stone arches across the lanes and stretches of preserved town wall.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June and September into October are the best months for combining cave visits with hiking the Val Varatella, when the temperature inside the Bàsura, a steady 16 degrees, feels right against the outside air. July and August are crowded with day-trippers from the coastal resorts; book the cave tour in advance. Inside the caves the temperature does not change, so a winter visit is also viable. November through March is quiet in the village, with the Museo Etnografico on shorter hours. The Sagra del Carciofo di Perinaldo in April, eaten widely here, marks the start of the season.