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Deiva Marina is a pleasant
seaside resort a stone’s distance from the Tigullio and from the Parco Naturale
delle Cinque Terre. A long-standing favourite of Ligurian tourism, it boasts a
quiet atmosphere, beautiful beaches, excellent accommodation facilities and a
tourist information centre. Recently, its waters have been awarded the
international F.E.E.E. Blue Flag.
Easily reachable by car and
train,
Deiva deserves your commitment for an environment-friendly stay: choose
ecological means of transport (bicycle or feet) and tour the area at your own
pleasure.
The
landscape is a Mediterranean feast of sandy beaches, tiny coves, thick woods and
centuries-old creuze climbing through the hills among cultivated terraces, the
reign of olive trees, vineyards and dry-stone walls – not to forget painters,
poets and photographers.
The vegetation is an array of
cluster pines, chestnut trees, helm-oaks and cork oaks, traversed by trails
heading to the most secret heart of the area. Natural and cultural excursions
lead to a host of hamlets - an itinerary follows the tracks of the ancient Via
Francigena, once thread by pilgrims and wayfarers. Do not miss a drive to the
Passo del Bracco, providing corners of enchantment and breathtaking views in a
habitat crystallized in time.
Farming
was probably introduced in the district by laymen and clergymen from the
renowned Abbazia of Bobbio, founded in the early Middle Ages by the Irish monk
Saint Columbanus as a stronghold of faith, knowledge and agriculture. In the
following centuries the area was the seat of numberless feudal struggles, up to
the Genoese conquest, which put an end to the alliance between the powerful
families of the Da Passano, Fieschi and Malaspina. A token of the domination of
the Republic of Genoa is the Saracen tower standing in the centre of the resort. Traces of this age of intense devotion and belligerency show
in a dense network of churches, sanctuaries, oratories and ruins. Like several
other coastal villages, the first settlements were located inland for defensive
reasons – commercial boost on the seashore being a more recent phenomenon.
Deiva Marina’s dualism is the
asset of assets: the coast intertwines continually with the entroterra in a mix
of traditions that reverberate also in the flavours of local gastronomy – the
triumph of fish (anchovies reign in a hundred recipes), vegetables, oil, white
wines and sparkling lemons, yellow way marks dotting the Ligurian Riviere.
All year round vacations, fit
for every tourist target, are the area’s precious treasure: the sea sun summer
formula is in fact completed by cultural and religious events, as well as by any
sports activity you can imagine. A blue&green holiday, relaxing and dynamic,
full of suntan, trekking, shopping (Saturday is market day) and diving.
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