On a path at Boscogrande there is a boulder with two oval hollows in it. The village calls them the Devil's Paws, and the folk explanation is in the name. Along the ridge of the Bric dei Morti you can still see the trenches the Piedmontese dug in 1796 against the French.
Massimino has 121 residents scattered between San Vincenzo, Costa and the other hamlets: it is the least populated comune in the province of Savona and the only Ligurian one that lies entirely in the Tanaro valley. Genoa bought it in 1713 to keep an eye on the Piedmont border.
The patron is Saint Donatus and the feast falls on 7 August; the parish church that carries his name stands in the hamlet of San Vincenzo, which is also where the town hall is, and was built in its present form between 1818 and 1820.
The municipal coat of arms, granted in 1997, says two things at once: above the castle is the shield of the Del Carretto, who ruled here, and around it twelve stars, the same as those of united Europe. The oldest church in the area is San Giovanni Battista, in the hamlet of Costa, with four frescoed lunettes along its sides.
chiesa di San Donato
Pesto alla Genovese
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Next up: Saint Donatus of Arezzo, patron of a town marked by the Del Carretto coat of arms, Saturday 7 August
Nearest airport: Genova, 63 km away
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📅 Every year, on 7 August
Massimino celebrates Saint Donatus of Arezzo on 7 August, in the Baroque church built between 1818 and 1820; the municipal coat of arms recalls the Del Carretto marquises, who held power over a territory once defined as a castrum.
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 Massimino, but an easy day trip away.
