Ceriana (locally , Genoese: ) 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 Imperia The province of Imperia (; ; ) is a mountainous and hilly Provinces of Italy, province in the Liguria region of Italy, situated between France to the north and the west, and the Ligurian Sea, an arm of the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Its capi ...

in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

region

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 west of

Imperia Imperia (; or ) is a coastal city and ''comune'' in the Regions of Italy, region of Liguria, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Imperia, and historically it was capital of the ''Intemelia'' district of Liguria. Benito Mussolini create ...

. As of 2018, it had a population of 1,214 and an area of .All demographics and other statistics: Italian statistical institute

Istat The Italian National Institute of Statistics (; Istat) is the primary source of official statistics in Italy. The institute conducts a variety of activities, including the census of population, economic censuses, and numerous social, economic, a ...

. Ceriana borders the following municipalities:

Badalucco ''For people with the surname, see Badalucco (surname).'' Badalucco (, locally ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about west of Imperia. Badalucco bor ...

Bajardo Bajardo (also Baiardo) () is a ''comune'' in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region Liguria. It is about southwest of Genoa and about west of Imperia. Its principal settlement, Bajardo itself, is a medieval village which stands at an ele ...

Sanremo Sanremo, also spelled San Remo in English and formerly in Italian, is a (municipality) on the Mediterranean coast of Liguria, in northwestern Italy. Founded in Roman times, it has a population of 55,000, and is known as a tourist destination ...

, and Taggia.

History

Built on the site of a Roman fort, Castrum Colianum (from whence the name Ceriana derives), the city took its present shape mostly in the 11th and 12th centuries C.

Gian Battista Embriaco (1829–1903), professor at the Roman Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, College of Saint Thomas and the inventor in 1867 of the hydrochronometer, was born in Ceriana. Examples of his hydrochronometer can be found in Rome on the gardens of the

Pincian Hill The Pincian Hill ( ; ) is a hill in the northeast quadrant of the historical centre of Rome. The hill lies to the north of the Quirinal, overlooking the Campus Martius. It was outside the original boundaries of the ancient city of Rome, and was ...

and in the

Villa Borghese gardens Villa Borghese is a landscape garden in Rome, containing a number of buildings, museums (see Galleria Borghese) and attractions. It is the third-largest public park in Rome (80 hectares or 197.7 acres), after the ones of the Villa Doria Pamphi ...

. Embriaco had presented two prototypes of his invention at the Paris Universal Exposition in 1867 where it won prizes and great acclaim.

Culture

Celebrities

Giulio Natta, nobel prize for chemistry in 1963, lived in Ceriana, on via della visitazione. Today, there is a plaque in his memory next to his house.

Festivals

Despite its small population, Ceriana hosts celebrations and events on its main square on most weekends throughout the year, drawing tourists from nearby

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million *San Zane Festival, ''La Festa di San Zane'' (''San Giovanni'') *International Music Festival of the Earth, ''Festival Convegno Internazionale Musiche della Terra'' *Ceriana Sausage Festival, ''La Sagra della Soucisa a Serianasca'' *The Madonna of the Villa, ''La Madonna della Villa'' *Chestnut Festival, ''Festa della Castagna'' also called ''Festa de Rustìe'' in local dialect, cerianasco

Music

''La Banda Musicale di Ceriana'' (The Music Band of Ceriana) was originally formed in 1882. Its current iteration was reformed in 1950.

Easter Procession

Several events are held during the

Holy Week Holy Week () commemorates the seven days leading up to Easter. It begins with the commemoration of Triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, marks the betrayal of Jesus on Spy Wednesday (Holy Wednes ...

, ''La Settimana Santa'', around the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

, culminating in a series of processions in which four choirs consisting of local men sing ancient Latin chants through the streets of Ceriana and in the main church.

Demographics

Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width:455 height:303 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:3000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:1000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:200 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1861 text:1861 bar:1871 text:1871 bar:1881 text:1881 bar:1901 text:1901 bar:1911 text:1911 bar:1921 text:1921 bar:1931 text:1931 bar:1936 text:1936 bar:1951 text:1951 bar:1961 text:1961 bar:1971 text:1971 bar:1981 text:1981 bar:1991 text:1991 bar:2001 text:2001 bar:2011 text:2011 PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left bar:1861 from: 0 till:2400 bar:1871 from: 0 till:2565 bar:1881 from: 0 till:2541 bar:1901 from: 0 till:2633 bar:1911 from: 0 till:2717 bar:1921 from: 0 till:2672 bar:1931 from: 0 till:2274 bar:1936 from: 0 till:2217 bar:1951 from: 0 till:2090 bar:1961 from: 0 till:1904 bar:1971 from: 0 till:1563 bar:1981 from: 0 till:1371 bar:1991 from: 0 till:1290 bar:2001 from: 0 till:1305 bar:2011 from: 0 till:1252 PlotData= bar:1861 at:2400 fontsize:XS text: 2400 shift:(-8,5) bar:1871 at:2565 fontsize:XS text: 2565 shift:(-8,5) bar:1881 at:2541 fontsize:XS text: 2541 shift:(-8,5) bar:1901 at:2633 fontsize:XS text: 2633 shift:(-8,5) bar:1911 at:2717 fontsize:XS text: 2717 shift:(-8,5) bar:1921 at:2672 fontsize:XS text: 2672 shift:(-8,5) bar:1931 at:2274 fontsize:XS text: 2274 shift:(-8,5) bar:1936 at:2217 fontsize:XS text: 2217 shift:(-8,5) bar:1951 at:2090 fontsize:XS text: 2090 shift:(-8,5) bar:1961 at:1904 fontsize:XS text: 1904 shift:(-8,5) bar:1971 at:1563 fontsize:XS text: 1563 shift:(-8,5) bar:1981 at:1371 fontsize:XS text: 1371 shift:(-8,5) bar:1991 at:1290 fontsize:XS text: 1290 shift:(-8,5) bar:2001 at:1305 fontsize:XS text: 1305 shift:(-8,5) bar:2011 at:1253 fontsize:XS text: 1253 shift:(-8,5) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from ISTAT

Twin towns – sister cities

Ceriana is twinned with: *

Guisa Guisa is a municipality and town in the Granma Province of Cuba. It is located south-east of Bayamo, the provincial capital. Demographics In 2022, the municipality of Guisa had a population of 44,566. With a total area of , it has a populati ...

, Cuba

References

{{authority control Cities and towns in Liguria