Ceriale (, locally ) is a ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' (municipality) in the

Province of Savona The province of Savona (; Ligurian language, Ligurian: ''provinsa de Sann-a'') is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Liguria region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Savona, which has a population of 61,219 inhabitants. The province has a ...

in the Italian region of

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

, located about southwest of

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

and about southwest of

Savona Savona (; ) is a seaport and (municipality) in the west part of the northern Italian region of Liguria, and the capital of the Province of Savona. Facing the Ligurian Sea, Savona is the main center of the Riviera di Ponente (the western se ...

. Ceriale borders the following municipalities:

Albenga Albenga (; ) is a city and ''comune'' situated on the Gulf of Genoa on the Italian Riviera in the Province of Savona in Liguria, northern Italy. Albenga has the nickname of ''city of a hundred spires''. The economy is mostly based on tourism, loc ...

, Balestrino, Borghetto Santo Spirito, Cisano sul Neva, and Toirano.

Geography

The town is located in the Riviera di Ponente, east of the plain of

, on the slopes of Mount Croce, at an elevation of .

History

The village, an territorial dominion of the bishop of

since the early Middle Ages, was acquired in the 14th century by the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

. In that period the nearby village of ''Capriolo'' was abandoned, according to local sources, as a result of an invasion of

ants Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of ...

. Following the frequent raids by

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

on the Ligurian coast, a circular bastion was built adjacent to the beach in 1563; however, the town was again attacked and sacked by

Barbary pirates The Barbary corsairs, Barbary pirates, Ottoman corsairs, or naval mujahideen (in Muslim sources) were mainly Muslim corsairs and privateers who operated from the largely independent Barbary states. This area was known in Europe as the Barba ...

in 1637. Along with other towns of the Ligurian Riviera, in 1764 Ceriale participated in an uprising against the Republic of Genoa, caused by the heavy tax burden. It became part of the Kingdom of

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

in 1815, after the fall of

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

; and, in 1861, of the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

. From 1973 until 31 December 2008 Ceriale was part of Ingauna Mountain Community, which was terminated by the Liguria Regional Law Number 23, 29 December 2010.

Main sights

Religious architecture

* Parish Church of Saints

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

and Eugene. It houses a 16th century

crucifix A crucifix (from the Latin meaning '(one) fixed to a cross') is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the (Latin for 'body'). The cru ...

and also numerous blades dating from the 16th and 17th centuries. * Church of Peagna. Adjacent to the cemetery, it is flanked by a tower built in

Baroque style The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (i ...

and internally is home to

paintings Painting is a visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or " support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush. Other implements, ...

from the 15th and 16th centuries.

Amusement parks

* ''Water Park'': The Caravelle

Culture

Museums

* ''The Paleontological Museum Silvio Lai'': It was founded in 1993 in the hamlet of Peagna. The museum exhibits the collection of municipal

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

from the nearby Regional Natural Reserve of Rio Torsero, dating back to

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58twinned with: *

Sucha Beskidzka Sucha Beskidzka (before 1961 called only ''Sucha'') is a town in the Żywiec Beskids mountain range in southern Poland, on the Skawa river. It is the county seat of Sucha County. It has been in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999; previously ...

, Poland

Economy

The town's main economic resources are tourism and agriculture. Vegetables and flowers are cultivated, in particular

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

s grown in greenhouses. Industries include shipyards and confectionery plants.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Cities and towns in Liguria