What to see in San Terenzo, a town in Liguria overlooking the Gulf of Poets, located near the border with Tuscany in the province of La Spezia.
Tourist information
The very ancient origins as a fishing village testify to its character as a pretty seaside village. It is about two kilometers from Lerici, pleasantly passable on foot in about twenty minutes along the sea.
This route is also known as the walk from castle to castle, as it unites the castles that dominate these small Ligurian villages with colorful houses.
In San Terenzo, a land much loved by poets and intellectuals, the English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, together with his wife Mary, and the poet Byron lived in the white house on the sea called Villa Magni.
The beauty of this bay, yesterday as today, conveys unforgettable emotions in every season.
In ancient times the name of the town was Portiolo but later it was changed to San Terenzo to honor the wealthy Scottish pilgrim who, landing on the coast, was hosted by the locals who to thank him for the many gifts brought by him, appointed him bishop of nearby Luni.
The pilgrim Terenzo subsequently resumed his journey to Rome but was killed by brigands on his way.
Several years later, the Portoliesi decided to rename their country with the name of San Terenzo to remember it.
What see
Characteristic is the medieval castle built on a rock leaning towards the sea, the parish church of 1600 which, born on the remains of a much older church dedicated to the Nativity, contains important works inside such as the panel painting of the Madonna dell ' Arena and a large late 17th century painting by Paolo Gerolamo Piola.
Looking at the panorama from the sea you can see the bell tower of the church dedicated to the Nativity of the Madonna of the seventeenth century and at both ends of the coast the castle of San Terenzo and that of Lerici.
With the beach quite wide and the sea enclosed in a bay, San Terenzo is a country where you always go willingly to do sea life or taste fish specialties in the typical trattorias on the seafront.
