Chiavari i okolice
From the main road from Rapallo to Chiavari, there are signposts, the path leading to small sea coves (at any of them you can ask the bus driver to stop). Further on, the incredibly winding road goes a little inland and reaches ZOGLA. It is a village, whose inhabitants started the production of decorative velvet already in the Middle Ages, and in later centuries they delivered it all over Europe. Some types of velvet (for example. golden red Palm of Genoese) It is still produced here for interior decoration. The entire region is known for its textile production. Situated higher in the mountains, the town of LORSICA still produces wonderful damasks, many of which can be seen in the palaces of Genoa.
Compared to the rocky and jagged seashore in other more northerly places, the coast in CHIAVARI is flat. It does not have any distinctive features, apart from stone and concrete breakwaters, which separate the marina from the sandy and pebble beach. The Romans called this place Clavarium (Keys), because of the easy access to the inland valleys from here. The town is still a good starting point for hiking in the mountains. Railway stations, bus and rail, are located next to each other on Corso della Liberta, the main street of Chiavari. It crosses a network of medieval streets with arcades, under which there are grocery stores and bars. There are also lots of craft points for decorative fringes, which this - traditional in the East - skill was once instilled in the town by local sailors.
Situated on one of the blocks from Corso, Civic Archaeological Museum, Via Costaguta 2 (Tue-Thu. 9.00-13.00, pt.-nd. 14.00-19.30; Free entrance), has, among others. detailed charts, explaining such concepts, such as "triple-headed tinder" etc., and exhibits brought from a huge necropolis from the 7th and 8th centuries lying on the edge of the town.
Blackboard
The other side of the Entella River is the smaller and uglier town of LAVAGNA than Chiavari. Name (in Italian "board") comes from the slate mined from the cave at Monte San Giacomo, used in Liguria to build most of the striped churches. Only day, when something interesting happens in Lavagna there is 14 August. Then the fun is organized, which is based on the random matching of pairs. It takes place in memory of the famous 13th-century wedding, zawartego przez Opizzone Fieschi i Biancę dei Bianchi. Hundreds of people come to the market for their portion of the giant Torta dei Fieschi, and each participant of this annual wedding is obliged to find a partner unknown to him in the crowd, with whom fate connected him, or rather the ticket vendor (each ticket has its counterpart). Finding a partner sometimes leads, according to the assurances of the tourist office, "To the formation of lasting relationships".
Two kilometers to the north is the Basilica di San Salvatore dei Fieschi (accessible by bus from Lavagna or Chiavari). Hardly noticeable from the main road, it towers over an agricultural valley full of fruit orchards. The basilica is beautiful, locked in a square of walls, complex of romanesque and gothic buildings, decorated under the eaves with pagan symbols.
On the way to Santo Stefano d'Aveto
The road from Rapallo and Chiavari leads to SANTO STEFANO D'AVETO. Both of them run through isolated villages and among completely isolated villages, all the way to the edge of the snow, terraced slopes. Grapevines are grown on the lower terraces, and everywhere they are unusual, to protect the hay from rain, reed canopies, they look like shacks. Surroundings, especially the area of REZZOAGLIO and CERISOLA, favors hiking, and botanists will surely be interested in the nature reserve La Riserva dell Agoraie, located on the northern slopes of Monte degli Abeti (1543m). It was created around three lakes, where you can find rare specimens of plants and trees from two and a half thousand years old kept in the icy water. Santo Stefano itself is the largest of the local holiday resorts, and the center of skiing and tourism. It also has two one-star hotels, genoese, Market Square 9 (*0185/98050; rooms 25000 L) and San Lorenzo, Via Marconi 26 (*0185/98008; several thousand more expensive).