The fortified church of San Pietro

From church to fortress

The oldest part dates from the 13th century, with a semicircular apse with three windows in late Romanesque forms. In the 16th century, when the Riviera was exposed to Saracen raids, the church was fortified. It served to defend and to shelter the inhabitants in case of attack.

The sources do not all agree on the century: most say the 16th, one regional tourism site writes the 15th. We follow the 16th, the version of Wikipedia, Wikivoyage and the most detailed local articles.

The Chamber of Commerce of the Riviere di Liguria, in its invitation to the 2023 Romanesque Day, calls it the only surviving example in Liguria of a church building altered for military purposes. More cautious sources say one of the very few. Quote it with its source rather than as a certain fact.

What to look at

Walk around the church and look up. The defensive features described by the sources are:

• high walls with loopholes;
• a patrol terrace above the church;
• corner lookouts and a round turret on the north-west side;
• openings for pouring boiling oil;
• a round window (oculus) in the facade.

Not all of these are easy to pick out with the naked eye: it depends on the light and where you stand. The photo of the sides shows how the church became an almost windowless block.

The apse

This is the part that recalls the origin: semicircular, with three windows, in late Romanesque forms. Inside, according to a tourism source, the floor is sandstone. We found no official description of the interior.

The apostolic visit of 1585

A local news article recalls that in 1585 the apostolic visit of Monsignor Mascardi judged the church no longer suited to the rules of the Council of Trent. It hints at how much the building had become a fortress rather than an ordinary place of worship. It remains a single source.

How to visit

The church is always visible from outside, in Piazza San Pietro, a few steps from the heart of the village. To go in, ask the Comune di Cipressa, which handles visits to the churches of Lingueglietta: call +39 0183 98005. There are no confirmed opening hours and the Comune’s website has no dedicated page, so treat it as a stop to arrange, not to take for granted.

Other churches in the village may be closed. The parish church had a collapse in 2024 and we do not know if it can be visited: it is worth asking the Comune for an overall picture.

For the rest of the day see the guide to Lingueglietta. For the coast, San Lorenzo al Mare is the most convenient base; for another village with a different story, Cervo is reachable by car.