The people of Toirano disputed the right of the people of Boissano to walk up in pilgrimage, on the first of August, to the Benedictine monastery of San Pietro in Varatella. So Boissano built its own church, up on the hill, dedicated to the same protector: they finished it between 1829 and 1830 with money sent home by the Boissano men who had emigrated to Gibraltar. It has no bell tower, only a small bell on the seaward front.
The village lies between the Varatella and Nimbalto streams, under monte Ravinet. At Corpus Christi the procession goes from the parish church to the chapel of the Pozzo over a carpet of petals, once of broom, which people throw into the street in front of the canopy. The population is 2,437.
Pesto alla Genovese
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Next up: Saint Mary Magdalene, patron, and the sanctuary built by emigrants from Gibraltar, Thursday 22 July
Nearest airport: Genova, 58 km away
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📅 Every year, on 22 July
Boissano celebrates Saint Mary Magdalene on 22 July, in the church consecrated in 1595; on the hill stands instead the sanctuary of San Pietrino, born from a dispute with Toirano over pilgrimage and completed thanks to Boissano emigrants in Gibraltar.
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 Boissano, but an easy day trip away.
