A day among fishing boats, pirates, saints and good food: a trip to Santa Margherita Ligure - I.

An island that came from afar and in the end decided to anchor itself to the mainland: in Friedrich Nietzsche's imagination, Santa Margherita Ligure presented itself like this, and you don't necessarily have to be a fan of the philosopher to agree with him on the beauty of this seaside resort. The extraordinary historical and artistic wealth of the municipality fits into a breathtaking landscape, in the innermost part of the Gulf of Tigullio, in a closed cove of the Portofino promontory. From the heights covered with woods of maritime pines, chestnuts and olive groves, a marvellous panorama opens up over the Coast of the Dolphins. The territory, included in the Portofino Regional National Park, offers several nature trails, including those of the Golfo Paradiso, San Fruttuoso and the Gulf of Tigullio.

The seabeds too are full of treasures to discover: in the protected marine nature area there is a particular habitat of posidonia oceanica meadows and coral formations and semi-dark caves, as well as countless species of fish. If today this splendid sea enchants tourists, in the past it was also a source of danger, because of the frequent Saracen raids. To defend themselves from pirates, in particular from the terrible Dragut who had spread terror along the whole Ligurian coast, in 1550 Santa Margherita Ligure too equipped itself with a fortress. The castle, located on the seafront, was designed by Antonio de Càrabo, the same man who a year later would build the castle of Rapallo. Adjacent to the castle we also visit the church of the Capuchin friars, built in 1608 together with the convent. Another castle, from 1626, is found in the charming hamlet of Paraggi, on the road to Portofino.

Also along the stretch of coast that reaches Portofino you can visit the Cervara, a former Benedictine monastery dating back to 1361. Centuries ago, one fine day the inhabitants of the village of Santa Margherita Ligure noticed a boat entering the port and immediately arousing the interest of the people who began to crowd onto the quay. Someone thought the commotion was due to some fish of extraordinary size caught by the fishermen, but that time the place's already famous seafaring tradition had little to do with it. The sailors instead brought to the village a splendid Marian image, in which the Virgin held a rose in her hand. From this springs the cult that has been alive in the town since the Middle Ages, as shown by the name of the sanctuary of Nostra Signora della Rosa, formerly the basilica of Santa Margherita d'Antiochia, where the sacred image is kept.

In the basilica a precious 18th-century statue by Anton Maria Maragliano is also preserved, depicting St John of Nepomuk. Besides the Madonna, protecting this splendid town of the Gulf of Tigullio is, precisely, Santa Margherita, patron saint of women in childbirth, who lived between 275 and 290, the year in which, at just fifteen years old, she suffered martyrdom for her Christian faith.