The tower on the seafront has nine sides. Genoa built it against Saracen landings, finished in 1566, with a single door and overhanging sentry boxes; it carried cannon until the nineteenth century. In 1916 the navigator Enrico Alberto d'Albertis gave it to the Congregation of Charity so that the sick poor could be sheltered there, and since 1987 it has been the town hall.
The name comes from the Benedictines: in 1049 Adelaide of Susa gave the village to the Genoese abbey of Santo Stefano, which set up here the monastic principality of Villaregia. To the Meloria, in 1284, the village contributed a helmsman and twenty rowers. The population is 2,239.
Torrione
Pesto alla Genovese
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Next up: Saint Stephen, patron of a town that lives on flower festivals and floriculture, Tuesday 3 August
Nearest airport: Genova, 98 km away
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📅 Every year, on 3 August
Santo Stefano al Mare celebrates Saint Stephen on 3 August; every year, usually in May, the traditional flower festival is held, tied to the fine floriculture that sustains many of the town's inhabitants.
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 Santo Stefano al Mare, but an easy day trip away.
