The tower of Sant'Antonio was not built to decorate the shoreline: it was built because pirates came from the sea. The Republic of Genoa raised it during the sixteenth century, together with the tower of Coreallo, at a time when Saracen raids along this coast were growing more frequent. Genoa had its reasons to invest: Spotorno had become Genoese in 1385, when Pope Urban VI sold the Republic the fief of the town and that of nearby Pietra Ligure for 60,000 florins. From then on the place belonged to the podesteria of Capo di Vado, along with Vado, Bergeggi and Noli, and its coast became a stretch of frontier to be watched.
What to see
The two towers split the work by compass point: Sant'Antonio to the east, Coreallo to the west. Together they covered the arc of the bay the town spreads along, but the job was not only about the sea: the watch had to extend to the mountain ground behind the settlement as well.
The tower was one piece of a wider system. Spotorno, like its neighbours, had a solid set of defences, which included the castle on the hill above the town, built in the twelfth century by the bishops of Savona and destroyed more than once by the men of Noli; the quadrangular structure standing today is thought to date from the sixteenth century, the same years as the towers. Seeing both in one day makes the chain easier to understand.
Visiting
Spotorno is reached from the via Aurelia, which crosses the town and links it to Bergeggi to the north and Noli to the south, from the A10 motorway exit, or by train: the station is shared with Noli, on the Genoa-Ventimiglia line. The seafront runs for two kilometres of sandy shore, with a promenade, public gardens and bathing establishments; to look for the tower, the eastern side is the one to aim for. No opening hours or tickets are listed.
Our editors' tip
We suggest walking east in the late afternoon, when the light comes from the land and the outlines above the water read more clearly, and a glance up at the castle hill before turning back: from there it becomes obvious why the Republic put its sentries at exactly those two points. Then stop in piazza Aonzo, which with the adjoining via De Maestri is the real centre of the old town, and take the time to slip into a few of the alleys.