Sestri Levante

The village is famous for the unique morphology of its territory. The historical center overlooks two bays, divided by an isthmus uniting the promontory, the oldest part of the village, to the mainland. The bay bigger, Said Bay of Fables, owes its name to Enzo Tortora, unforgettable television presenter so that the baptized during an episode of Campanile Evening, aired precisely from Sestri Levante toward the end of the years conquante. The second bay, the smaller is the famous Bay of Silence, so called for the first time in 1919 by Giovanni Descalzo, the Ligurian poet lived in Sestri.

Initially known as Segesta Segeste or, was founded by the Ligurians Tigulli. During the Roman era lived a period of great splendour that went to decay in the Middle Ages with the barbarian invasions, the period in which the town began to expand on the mainland. After being feud of the Fieschi, accounts of Lavagna, in 1100 it passed under the maritime republic of Genoa, who built a castle there for defensive purposes. In the course of the 13th century was chosen as the capital of the local podesta then to undergo, in the next century, two attempts of siege: the first in 1327, by the lord of Lucca Castruccio Castracani, and the second by the Visconti family in 1365. In 1432 also the Republic of Venice tried to besiege the village with negative outcome. Unfortunately however was not as lucky with the turkish pirates and Saracens which damaged and plundered Sestri in 1542 and in 1607.

A village rich in history and culture, a magical place, from the fabled nature, source has always been the inspiration for poets and writers. It is precisely at Sestri that, from 1967, unwinds the Literary Contest Hans Christian Andersen Prize Bay of Fables, the Italian award more famous for literature for children. It is dedicated to the writer and poet Hans Christian Andersen that wandering around Europe during his Grand Tour of the 19th century, remained bewitched by the glimpses of the Ligurian city and decided to stay there in 1833. Ventottenne and not yet famous thanks to the fantastic world of his fairy tales, lodged in an inn overlooking the Bay of Silence. Here it remained totally fascinated by the beauty of the Bay and it is said that thanks to this magical encounter the writer found inspiration to write some of his fairy tales most beautiful.

There are many religious buildings and architectures commemorative civilians of this glorious past. The Church of San Nicolò of the Island, dating back to 1151, is the oldest church in Sestri, originally Romanesque in style and transformed in the baroque style in the course of the XV century. The Basilica of Saint Mary of Nazareth, was built in the XVII century, it preserves in its interior several canvases of the baroque period and a wooden piety of Anton Maria Maragliano.
The Immaculate Conception church built in 1688, in a medieval style, not far from the Bay of Silence, contains inside a statue of the Immaculate dating back to the XVIII century and of religious paintings portraits by Domenico Fiasella. Finally, in the heart of the ancient village, there is the Church of San Pietro in Vincoli, built by the Capuchin Fathers in 1640.

The historic center, dotted with portals of the slate of the XIV century, is the seat of the civil architecture of greater interest among which you will find Palazzo Fascie, the Palace of Culture of Sestri Levante, where inside houses one of the two libraries of the village and the MuSel, the Archaeological Museum. Durazzo-Pallavicini palace is the seat of the town hall of Sestri, built in the second half of the XVII century, that preserves a painting by the painter Francesco Bassano, depicting the Adoration of the Magi.