For six hundred years Noli was a republic. It freed itself from the Del Carretto in 1192, with a deed drawn up inside the church of San Paragorio; in 1202 it allied with Genoa on equal terms, sent its ships to the first crusade and in 1239 even obtained a bishop of its own.
Then the harbour that had been its shelter grew too narrow for trade, and the sailors went back to being fishermen. The republic ended only in 1797, with Napoleon. What remains is the castle on monte Ursino, the arcaded front that once looked onto the beach and a few of the more than seventy towers that closed the town in the thirteenth century. The population is 2,801.
chiesa di San Paragorio · concattedrale di San Pietro · chiesa di Nostra Signora delle Grazie and 3 more
Pesto alla Genovese
24 places to stay · top rated: Paradiso Di Manù 9.6 · VILLA AGA 9.4
Next up: Saint Eugene and the procession of boats, Sunday 11 July
Nearest airport: Genova, 41 km away
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📅 Every year, on the second Sunday of July
Noli's patron is Saint Eugene, bishop of Carthage, who by legend arrived on an island that acted as a ferry: on 12 July his relics go back there, with a procession of boats.
chiesa di San Paragorio Ligurian Romanesque outside the walls of Noli: ceramic bowls set into the apse, a crypt on Roman columns. 
concattedrale di San Pietro Built from a tithe on the catch, cathedral since 1572: Genoese Baroque over a Romanesque frame. 
chiesa di Nostra Signora delle Grazie The chapel of Noli's bishop's palace, seat of a diocese until 1820: Genoese Baroque and a bay view. 
castello di Monte Ursino A tower outside the walls, joined by a walkway: this is how Noli defended its castle gates. 
Torre di Papone The arms store of the Republic of Noli, with Gothic windows and a brick arch to the castle. 
Torre Pagliano Fourteenth-century tower-house in green stone and brick, reworked in 1906 by d'Andrade's school. 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.
