Altitude: 15 m a.s.l.

Area: 1,4 sq km

Distance from Imperia: 5 km

Inhabitants: in 1881: 231 - in 2017: 1281

Patron Saint Day: July 22nd - Santa Maria Maddalena

Information: Municipality phone 0183 930109

San Lorenzo al Mare was founded around the year 1200 as an outpost of the city of Porto Maurizio but does not preserve significant traces of its past.

As for the town's toponym, it is mentioned in the fifteenth century as Villa Sancti Laurentii, with reference to the inhabited center built towards the middle of the thirteenth century at the mouth of the homonymous stream (aqua Sancti Laurentii), which constituted the western border of the territory of Porto Maurizio.

The parish church of Santa Maria Maddalena was rebuilt in Baroque style in 1766 and is now imprisoned in a modern residential complex that suffocates any splendour.

From the center of the town, the detour leading to Pietrabruna branches off from Via Aurelia.

Visit of the town

On the right side the road is dominated by the tall bell tower of Civezza while on the left, among the bare terracing strips deserted by the fires, you can see a truncated-cone "supenna" typical of the rural landscape of west Liguria; further on, the valley opens up to show how far the colonization of the territory has arrived with the ascent of the olive trees interrupted at the edge of the wood.

In the last ten days of July, coinciding with the patronal feast of the town, the "night of fires" takes place with the lighting of bonfires on the tip of the piers and of many candles on the sea.

The phase of the first olive development has been concluded for some time now, yet the first signs of young people returning to agriculture are felt. At the same time is developing a new kind of tourist reception (agritourism and bed & breakfasts).