In 1796 French troops came down from the Ginestro pass, stripped the parish church of Santi Pietro e Paolo and chiselled the Doria coat of arms off its doorway. Inside, an altarpiece by Lazzaro Tavarone survived.
Testico has 212 residents on the ridge between the Merula and Lerrone valleys, with the hamlet of Ginestro added in 1929; only a few ruins of the Doria castle are left on Monte Arosio. On 15 April 1945 German soldiers killed 29 civilians here.
The patrons are Saints Peter and Paul and the feast falls on 29 June; the parish church is dedicated to them — the octagonal hall consecrated in 1786 that holds an altarpiece by Lazzaro Tavarone.
The village name is said to come from Testagus, the name the Romans gave to the hill where the castrum stood, set to watch the ridge between the Merula and Lerrone valleys. On the road linking Vellego to the Ginestro pass stands the chapel of the Assumption, planted exactly at the point where the rio Grande and the rio Vaglie join and become the Lerrone stream.
chiesa dei Santi Pietro e Paolo
Pesto alla Genovese
Compare hotels, B&Bs and holiday homes on Booking.com for your dates.
Next up: Saints Peter and Paul, patrons of a town that owes them even its name, Tuesday 29 June
Nearest airport: Genova, 79 km away
No events match these filters.
📅 Every year, on 29 June
Testico celebrates Saints Peter and Paul on 29 June; the town was renamed «San Pietro del Testico» by Benedictine monks, and its Baroque parish church still holds a fine 16th-century altarpiece by Lazzaro Tavarone, despite the plundering of Napoleonic troops in 1796.
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 Testico, but an easy day trip away.
