Santo Stefano d’Aveto

Santo Stefano is a mountain village with few streets and many scattered hamlets: Allegrezze, Amborzasco, Alpicella, Gramizza, Pievetta, Roncolongo, Rocca d’Aveto and others. The centre is built around Piazza Domenico Livellara, in front of the castle, and the sanctuary. The tourist office (IAT) is at Piazza del Popolo 6, on the ground floor of the town hall. The village sits on the border with Emilia, between the Aveto valley and the Ceno and Nure valleys.

The castle dominates the village. It has a pentagonal plan, with walls 2–3 metres thick at the base and more than 17 metres high on average; the entrance had a drawbridge. What you see today is the Doria rebuilding of an older Malaspina fortress. In 1164 Emperor Frederick Barbarossa invested Obizzo Malaspina with the fief; in 1495 it passed to the Fieschi, counts of Lavagna; in 1547, after the Fieschi conspiracy against the Dorias, it was confiscated and given to Andrea Doria; from 1649 it belonged to the Doria Pamphilj, until 1797. In 1796 the villagers rose against their lords: tradition says the lord’s “bravi” (henchmen) were thrown off a bridge, now called Ponte dei Bravi.

The village tourist site says the interior can be visited after restoration: prisons, stables, granary, courtroom, a large cistern, the lord’s rooms and the chapel of San Carlo. Opening times are not published: ask the tourist office (0185 88007, ext. 1) before you walk up. The outside can be seen all year.

This is the parish church and the only sanctuary in Italy dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe. The cult reached the valley in the 19th century. According to tradition, in 1802 a student, Antonio Domenico Rossi, brought a small picture to the parish; in 1811 Cardinal Giuseppe Doria gave the Mexican painting that now stands on the high altar, which is said to have been aboard Andrea Doria’s ships at Lepanto. In 1815 Our Lady of Guadalupe was proclaimed patron of the valley, and since 1972 the church has been recognised as a sanctuary.

The present building dates from 1928, in Tuscan Gothic style, built after the earlier church, damaged by landslides, was demolished; the 18th-century bell tower remains. Inside are a wooden choir, baptistery and Way of the Cross made by craftsmen from Val Gardena, and a bronze door with scenes of the apparition. The sanctuary feast is on the Sunday after 16 August.

At 1,804 metres it is the highest peak of the Ligurian Apennines, on the border with Emilia-Romagna. From the top you see the Aveto valley, the Ceno valley and, on clear days, the Apuan Alps. Just below the summit stands the bronze statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, placed in 1947 after the war: every 27 August a pilgrimage climbs up to it. With the chairlift from Rocca d’Aveto to Prato della Cipolla and Monte Bue the climb is short, but it is not an easy stroll in every season. Routes, times and warnings are in the Monte Maggiorasca guide.

Monte Penna (1,735 m) has a pyramid shape and can be recognised from afar. The north side is rocky, basalt, almost alpine; the south side is gentle and covered by the Penna state forest, with beech and conifers. On a clear day the view reaches the Ligurian Sea, the Alps and the Apuan Alps. One of the most used accesses starts from Passo dell’Incisa. From the Casermetta del Penna, a 20-minute walk leads to Laghetto del Penna, a small glacial lake in the woods.

Groppo Rosso (1,597 m) is the balcony above the village. The name comes from the iron-rich rocks that turn reddish at sunset. From the top you see Monte Bue, Maggiorasca and Penna. It is a climb for almost everyone: from Prato della Cipolla, by chairlift, it takes about 30 minutes. Other paths start from Rifugio Astass and from Roncolongo.

Rocca d’Aveto is the hamlet where the lifts start, with a large car park. The chairlift climbs to Prato della Cipolla, where there is a mountain hut with a restaurant; a second section goes to Monte Bue (about 1,775 m), where there is another hut, with a restaurant and 12 beds in two dormitories of six (booking by phone). The two chairlifts opened in 2008 and 2010. Prato della Cipolla is also the centre of the pistes in winter.