Varese Ligure
Member of I Borghi più belli d'Italia
The Fieschi counts planned Varese Ligure on the road from Parma to the sea: its Borgo Rotondo is an oval of identical stone houses enclosing two squares, with arcades where shops and stores once stood. The village lies in the upper Val di Vara, where the Crovana joins the Vara, close to where Liguria meets Emilia and Tuscany. The family's castle still closes the northern end of the ring.
Highlights
- The Borgo Rotondo, the oval core around Piazza Fieschi and Piazza Castello
- Castello Fieschi, with towers built in 1435 and 1472
- The Ponte di Grecino, a single-arch bridge of 1515 over the Crovana
- Palazzo Ferrari, linked to Foscolo's ode to Luigia Pallavicini
- The civic tower, once the bell tower of an Augustinian church
Text adapted from Wikipedia (Varese Ligure (IT), Varese Ligure (EN)), Wikivoyage (Varese Ligure). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Population: 1,791
Things to see
Events through the year
- Feast of Saint John the Baptist
- Feast of the Madonna della VisitazioneThe wooden Visitation statue is carried in procession
- Festival LiricoOpera festival run by the Lirica Club Varese Ligure
- Fiera di San Martino
Dates follow the traditional patterns in our sources: check locally before you travel.
Adapted from Wikipedia (Varese Ligure), Wikivoyage (Varese Ligure). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Specialities of Liguria
Typical of the region rather than of this village.
- Genoese focaccia (IT)Bread and pasta
- Focaccia di ReccoBread and pasta
- TrofieBread and pasta
- Torta pasqualina (IT)Dish
.jpg/500px-Torta_Pasqualina_(Ostertorte_aus_Ligurien).jpg)
Adapted from Wikipedia (Cucina ligure, Cuisine of Liguria). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where to sleep
2 places to stay within 3 km
- Hotels 1
- B&Bs and guest houses 1
Data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Nearby member villages
- Compiano · 14 km
- Moneglia · 18 km
- Brugnato · 19 km
- Deiva Marina · 19 km
- Framura · 19 km