Arcola had the sea, and in 1928 it was taken away. Pitelli, Muggiano, Fossamastra, San Bartolomeo, Ruffino and Pagliari passed to La Spezia: it served to enlarge the provincial capital and, the records say, to separate the antifascists of Arcola from those of Pitelli.
What is left is a medieval town in concentric rings, with paved lanes and, at the top, the castle of the Obertenghi, which since its restoration in 1884 has been the town hall. The name probably comes from arx, fortress, though some have preferred to trace it to Hercules. There are 10,316 residents.
pieve dei Santi Stefano e Margherita · pieve di San Michele Arcangelo · santuario di Nostra Signora degli Angeli and 2 more
Pesto alla Genovese
24 places to stay · top rated: La Casa di RosaBea 9.7 · Casa Vanda - 5 Terre 9.7
Next up: Saint Nicholas and the church that replaced the pieve, Sunday 6 December
Nearest airport: Pisa Galilei, 61 km away
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📅 Every year, on 6 December
On 6 December Arcola celebrates Saint Nicholas of Bari in the church of San Nicolò, which in the 17th century took the place of the old pieve of Saints Stephen and Margaret as the parish seat.
pieve dei Santi Stefano e Margherita Mother church of Arcola since 1149, with a corner cut away in 1945 to let a tank through. 
pieve di San Michele Arcangelo Trebiano's parish church, named in a papal bull of 1149, holds Domenico Gar's first known work. 
santuario di Nostra Signora degli Angeli A fire in 1910 destroyed the church but spared the statue: the Marian sanctuary above Arcola. 
castello di Trebiano Named in a 963 imperial diploma: blind walls 20 metres high above the Val di Magra. 
Castello Obertengo Arcola's town hall sits inside the Obertenghi castle, besieged by Oberto Doria in 1278. 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 Arcola, but an easy day trip away.
