Santa Margherita was for a long time two towns in one, and the two did not love each other. On one side Pescino, the old fishermen's village; on the other Corte. The inhabitants were called Margheritini and Giacomini, they were politically and religiously distinct, and relations broke down more than once.
In 1798 the French took note and split the territory into two separate cantons. Before that the town had belonged to the Fieschi, and from 1229 to Genoa, which put it in the podesteria of Rapallo; in 1432 the Venetians sacked it and in 1549 the corsair Dragut. A third-century cinerary urn, now in the basilica, suggests a Roman settlement. There are 9,709 residents.
abbazia della Cervara · Castello di Paraggi · castello di Santa Margherita Ligure and 3 more
Pesto alla Genovese
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Next up: Feast of Saint Margaret, Tuesday 20 July
Nearest airport: Genova, 31 km away
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📅 Every year, on 20 July
On 20 July Santa Margherita Ligure celebrates the martyr of Antioch who gives the town its name, in the basilica begun in 1658 over the remains of a 13th-century church.
abbazia della Cervara The Italian garden above the sea, and the tower where Francis I was held after Pavia. 
Castello di Paraggi A square block of stone with four turrets, on the point closing the bay of Paraggi to the east. 
castello di Santa Margherita Ligure Built in a few months in 1550 against Saracen pirates, at the foot of the villa Durazzo hill. 
santuario di Nostra Signora della Rosa A basin of rose-scented water under the high altar: that is where the sanctuary of the Rose began. 
Villa Durazzo-Centurione The villa where Queen Margherita slept in 1904, with its Italian garden and stucco hall 
chiesa di San Lorenzo A triptych ordered in Bruges in 1499 by a local merchant, on the hills above Santa Margherita. Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside Santa Margherita Ligure, but an easy day trip away.
