Altitude: 369 m a.s.l.
Area: 32 sq km
Distance from Imperia: 33 km
Inhabitants: in 1881: 2547 - in 2017: 1206
Patron Saint Day: September 8th - Madonna della Villa
Information: Municipality phone 0184 551017
From Via Aurelia east of Sanremo take the detour that goes up to Poggio, reaching after two kilometers the panoramic widening on the left on which stands the sanctuary of Nostra Signora della Guardia of 1671 particularly dear to sailors; inside is preserved, among other things, the one and a half meters long scale model of a three-mast ship, an ex-voto from 1885 by Captain Capurro.
The road continues letting you cross an environment devastated by the plant of greenhouses in the first stretch and further on by the fires, until you reach the vineyards that announce the village of Ceriana.
The origins of Ceriana, a good example of a perfectly preserved medieval village, date back to Roman times, when the family of the Coelii settled there, from which the town took its name ("Celiana").
Formerly a possession of the Counts of Ventimiglia before the year 1000, Ceriana was sold in 1045 to the bishopric of Genoa, which then sold it in 1297 to Oberto Doria, from whom it passed in 1359 to the Republic of Genoa, to which it remained subordinated ever since.
Visit of the town
Park the car at the beginning of the village, pass the stone fountain on the left and take the road on the right before the tunnel that leads to the square where the parish church of San Pietro of 1633 stands, with a single nave and two small bell towers on the façade, erected where once was the castle.
Inside, the altarpiece "Santa Caterina with Santa Chiara and Santa Maria Maddalena", a 16th century panel by Francesco Brea, transferred from the oratory of Santa Caterina, is preserved immediately to the right of the visitor. In the next chapel there is an anonymous statue of the Virgin dating back to the thirteenth century; to the right of the main altar there is the anonymous polyptych of "San Pietro in cattedra" (1526), with scenes of fishing in the lower part, while on the opposite wall opens the niche dedicated to the Immaculate Conception with the baptismal font.
The sacristy preserves, to the right of a rare altar in linden wood, the small-scale prototype of the Pincio monumental water clock in Rome, a work of the Dominican from Ceriana Giambattista Embriaco. Going out on the large churchyard surrounded by stone seats, go up to the left under the vaults of Via Celio; past the monolithic overdoor at number 10, arrive at the crossroads on which opens to the left the round-arch square-ashlar gate under which you’ll pass ending into the small square with a mosaic decoration of the cobblestone.
At the beginning of the widening there is an archaic lintel on the left at number 20 carved with a Trigram between two lozenges, followed -a little further on the left at the beginning of Via San Salvatore- by the portal with semi-columns at the jambs and a monolithic overdoor; a third ogival-arch stone portal, with a heraldic shield in the center, opens to your left, on the right wall under the vault of the street that descends between the two already mentioned ones.
In the little square there is, a little further on, a fountain with a stone basin of 1867, faced by the architrave of 1530 carved with a Trigram between rosettes affixed at the beginning of Via Sant'Andrea.
Cross the little square again and, going back under the arch of the gate, continue to go up to the left along Via Celio, thus venturing under the dark vault; there on the right at number 58 is a portal, unfortunately covered with lime, carved in its architrave with a stylized vase of flowers between a hare and a dog chasing it; two almost all-relief guardian-wizards watch over on the spiral-carved jambs. A little further on, in the black stone jamb at number 64 is engraved "Domenico Mantica - dome mea" (my house): it was the eighteenth-century residence of a priest.
Continuing on, take under the vault on the left, thus arriving to the small square in the highest part of the town where the tower of Sant'Andrea stands, with mullioned windows in the belfry, and the adjacent oratory of Addolorata, seat of the Confraternita dei Neri (the confraternity of the Blacks).
The construction was built around the year 1000 with three naves, divided by two columns on each side connected by round arches, with a very thin capital; the organ choir is supported by two lower pink stone columns, with a now worn base, which belonged to the pagan temple on which the oratory was erected.
A small dome rises in the center of the cross vaults and two other smaller ones conclude the lateral aisles; the altar on the right is rich of inlaid marbles, while the one on the left is decorated with Baroque stuccoes.
Behind the high altar a massive temple frame preserves the anonymous canvas "Sant'Andrea" of 1528.
About ten meters back down the ramp on which you climbed, turn left after the vault into a stepped descent that gives you an overview of the underlying religious buildings that you will soon visit.
Continuing alongside the large rocks overhanging you, you’ll get to the Baroque oratory of the Visitation, seat of the Confraternita degli Azzurri (confraternity of the Blues), built on Roman walls; the interior is very rich, with an altar with spiral columns, eighteenth-century frescoes on the vault and a "Visitazione" marble group of 1729.
Leaving the oratory, continue straight ahead to observe the smooth stone portal at number 52, the one in black stone with an architrave carved in a Trigram at number 42 and the carved capital column that forms the jamb of the window-door at number 40.
Back on your steps up to the oratory, go down the ramp to the right in front of the fountain; after passing under the vaults that open onto the valley, you’ll arrive to Porta della Pena, with the stone arch surmounted by the slit to defend the western entrance to the village.
Outside the walls cross the medieval Ponte della Nocetta, with a single arch and a small aedicule in the center, which takes you to the complex that marks the oldest location of the village.
The first building you’ll encounter, with a beautifully restored stone bell tower, is the oratory of Santa Caterina, seat of the Confraternita dei Rossi (confraternity of the Reds); it was built in the seventeenth century under the protection of the Senate of Genoa.
Next to it stands the much older parish church of San Pietro, today Santo Spirito, built around the year 1000.
On the left side in front of you there are two doors, of which the one on the left is protected by a small porch supported by two slender stone columns, with a high base and a carved capital; the portal has a spirally carved frame and jambs surmounted by capitals where the traditional guardian-wizards are replaced by more deterrent roaring lion faces facing those who enter.
The architrave has been richly carved with an Agnus in a decorated tondo in the center, flanked on the left by a scroll with the inscription: "Deus gratia plena" followed by a tondo and finally by an angel; to the right of the Agnus, however, the plaque is very deteriorated and almost illegible.
The bas-relief on the second door is much better preserved, protected by a roof covered with "ciappe" resting on the protruding monolithic shelves.
In the middle there is a carved Trigram and repeated on the sides are a tondo with crossed keys, a lion's head and a rosette.
The date is April 26, 1510, with the "500" obtained with "CCCCC" instead of the classic "D"; here too the capitals at the jambs are carved with ferocious lion's faces, evidently considered more horrifying than the good-natured guardian-wizards.
On the side walls of the church there are narrow and high single-lancet windows, which are repeated wider in the upper part of the slender, well-squared stone bell tower; the interior has three naves divided by two series of five stone columns with Gothic capitals, connected by round arches.
On the side facing the stream, the building is divided into a series of massive arcades from which the oil mills and the stone arch of the aqueduct that fed them are clearly visible.
Go right crossing the medieval Ponte di Santo Spirito to immediately observe the fresco of the ancient "Ospitium pauperum", the shelter for the poor of the village, on the left.
Pass the vault and proceed along the street named after Palazzo dei Conti Roverizio di Roccasterone where you’ll see the fresco depicting a figure looking out of a fake attic window.
The entrance door is preceded by a large loggia beyond which there is a fountain of 1867 with a stone mask; in front of it, to the left of the column that holds the arch, is a Baroque polychrome aedicule.
Inside the building the first flight of stairs with columns and stone balustrades leads to the other monumental fountain, decorated with the statue of Neptune that tramples the head of the dolphin from whose mouth the water gushed.
Proceeding along the road you’ll arrive to the intersection from which you’ll take the right following the sign to the center ("centro"); along the road there are loggias and window doors of ancient shops.
Shortly before arriving to the church that you can peek at the end of the road, take the ramp on the left that leads to the oratory of Santa Marta, home of the Confraternity of the Greens; inside, in the two niches on the opposite walls, there are the intact skeletons of the Roman martyrs San Placido and San Germanione.
From there, back on your steps take the ramp on the left that takes you back to the car, by which you’ll continue beyond the tunnel.
The road rises between the last olive trees and the first chestnut trees for four kilometers until reaching, on the left, among the centuries-old horse chestnuts, the sanctuary of Madonna della Villa of 1755, once final destination of the procession of the Flagellants; it preserves in the vault frescoes by Carrega.
Continuing, you’ll enter the mountain scenery of the Regional Park of the Maritime Alps of which you’ll cross the dense forest to climb up to Passo Ghimbegna.
Those who want to continue through the woods can go on the right to Badalucco: after about fifteen kilometers in an intact natural environment, past Vignai and Argallo, you will find on the left the detour that leads to the sanctuary of Madonna della Neve.
The rustic structure isolated in the woods has a portico with stone benches and a rough deteriorated "Crucifixion" fresco above the arch; another small fresco is in the tiny atrium.
The interior, covered with trusses, is completely bare, with stone benches along the walls; behind the quadrangular apse a small rectangular room with slits has been built, which houses the water cistern.
A few kilometers further on, the Provincial Road meets the Valle Argentina road downstream of Badalucco, from where taking the right you can return to Via Aurelia.
Continuing straight instead, from Passo Ghimbegna you will reach Bajardo in less than a kilometer in the woods.