{"id":63827,"date":"2026-10-24T11:15:56","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T11:15:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/italian-riviera.com\/liguria\/pignone\/"},"modified":"2026-10-24T11:19:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T11:19:20","slug":"pignone","status":"publish","type":"localita","link":"https:\/\/italian-riviera.com\/en\/riviera-di-levante\/pignone\/","title":{"rendered":"Pignone"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pignone (La Spezia) is a stone village in the Val di Vara, at 189 metres above sea level and about 12 kilometres as the crow flies from La Spezia<\/a>. It borders Levanto<\/a>, Monterosso<\/a> and Vernazza<\/a> but sits on the inland side of the ridge: about 520 people live here, spread between the main village and the hamlets of Casale, Villa, Faggiona, Monti, Cappelletta and Catornola. It should not be confused with Pigna<\/a>, in the Val Nervia, or with the Pignone district of Florence, which often turn up in the same searches.<\/p>\n

The village holds the Touring Club’s Orange Flag and stands on the old road that linked the Val di Vara to the Cinque Terre coast. The centre keeps its medieval layout: narrow lanes, a stone loggia, the parish church of Santa Maria Assunta with a bell tower made from an older tower, and the bridge over the stream. On the hill opposite is the Castellaro, where traces of the Bronze and Iron Ages have been found, and along the road to Casale the karst caves open up.<\/p>\n

Pignone can be seen in half a day and pairs well with a trip from Levanto<\/a> or the Cinque Terre when you want a place without the crowds. It has no beaches, no railway station and no hotels: the sea, the trains and most of the beds are on the coast. What is worth the climb are the potatoes, onions and beans that the village has grown for generations: if they interest you, read our guide to the typical products of Pignone<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What to see in Pignone<\/h2>\n
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You can walk through the centre in a few minutes, but with stops it takes a couple of hours. Start from piazza Marconi: the lanes to the parish church, the bridge and the road to Casale all start here.<\/p>\n

The old town and piazza Marconi<\/h3>\n
\"Piazza<\/figure>\n

Piazza Marconi used to be the foro boario<\/em>, the space where the cattle market was held. Today it is the village’s living room, with the war memorial, the colourful houses and the mountains behind. From the square, via Campanelle leads to the parish church, via Pradiera to the old bridge and via Casale to the Castellaro and the caves. The lanes are steep and stepped: wear shoes with a decent sole, and remember that these are lived-in houses.<\/p>\n

The loggia and the 1604 plaque<\/h3>\n
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The loggia in piazza Marconi is considered by the Comune to be the village’s most important monument. It is a medieval stone structure with large arches which, according to some sources, was rebuilt in the seventeenth century next to an older, fourteenth-century loggia. On the wall is a plaque dated 1604 recalling the old road between Sestri Levante and Sarzana, proof that the village stood on an important route. The date the loggia was built is not confirmed.<\/p>\n

The parish church of Santa Maria Assunta<\/h3>\n
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The parish church stands on the western side of the village. The facade, pillars and part of the presbytery come from a church of 1339, as an inscription on one of the pillars says; the bell tower was made from a square tower that some scholars date to the ninth century. Inside, at the left-hand altar, is a marble crucifix attributed to Giovanni Antonio Amadeo, a Lombard sculptor, and dated to the last quarter of the fifteenth century: it comes from a shrine of the church of the Madonna del Ponte. A recent restoration brought to light the eighteenth-century colours, which had been covered over in the mid-twentieth century. The parish celebrates the Assumption on 15 August. Opening hours are not published: ask at the Comune \u26a0\ufe0f.<\/p>\n

The oratory of Mortis et Orationis<\/h3>\n

On the churchyard of the parish church, near the cemetery, stands the confraternity’s oratory, of fifteenth-century origin and modified in 1894. It is best seen from the outside, as opening times are not confirmed: if you find it closed, do not insist.<\/p>\n

The old bridge over the stream<\/h3>\n
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The old bridge over the Pignone stream, according to the Comune’s description, has a medieval base, a loggia of fourteenth-century design and a Maest\u00e0, a small shrine with the Madonna and Child. It is the most photographed spot in the village, but it has a hard history: the flood of 25 October 2011, which hit the whole Val di Vara and the Cinque Terre, brought down the medieval bridge in the centre and damaged houses and roads, above all at Casale. Reconstruction work was under way in 2018, but its current state is not confirmed: before going, ask at the Comune whether it can be crossed.<\/p>\n

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The sanctuary of the Madonna del Buon Consiglio<\/h3>\n
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Just outside the centre, at Madonna del Ponte, stands the sanctuary of the Madonna del Buon Consiglio, also called \u00abdel Ponte\u00bb, next to a seventeenth-century church. According to a local portal it stands near the spot where an older bridge, destroyed by a flood, once stood. In the same place a landslide affected the provincial road in January 2025. Opening times are not confirmed: look from the outside and do not count on going in.<\/p>\n

The Castellaro<\/h3>\n

On the hill facing the village, towards the sea, the Castellaro is a wooded plateau with large limestone rocks and traces of dry-stone walls from different periods. The Comune describes it as a site inhabited since the Bronze and Iron Ages, linked to the Ligurian people known as the \u00abpeople of the Swan\u00bb: unlike many other Ligurian castellari<\/em>, this one also had defensive masonry works. The first excavations date from the 1940s and the area may be much larger than the part dug. Since 2000 it has been a Site of Community Importance for its karst system. You climb from piazza Marconi along via Casale, with two paths that the Comune calls easy: names, times and ascent are not published, so ask first.<\/p>\n

The karst caves and the Sant’Antonino sinkhole<\/h3>\n

Along the road between Pignone and Casale opens the cave system that the Comune describes as the most complex in the province: it is about twenty metres deep and has a wide entrance above the road. At the entrance there are panels on karst and wildlife, which includes a bat colony and the Ambrosi’s cave salamander, a small amphibian that lives in caves. In 2005 a botanical trail was created with the primary school. For going into the caves there is no information on opening times, guides or safety: do not go down alone and find out first \u26a0\ufe0f.<\/p>\n

Casale and the church of San Martino<\/h3>\n
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A short distance from the main village, along provincial road 34, is Casale, the hamlet that suffered most in the 2011 flood. Its centre is the church of San Martino, with a large Genoese painting which, according to a local portal, hides a fifteenth-century fresco. The hamlet also has the oratory of Nostra Signora della Neve.<\/p>\n

\"Panorama<\/figure>\n

Faggiona and Villa<\/h3>\n

The other two hamlets each have an oratory: San Bartolomeo at Faggiona and San Sebastiano at Villa, the latter from the eighteenth century. They are places for those who drive or walk the hill roads and want to see the countryside where beans and potatoes are grown. No opening times are published.<\/p>\n

What to eat in Pignone<\/h2>\n

Pignone’s cooking is peasant food built around a handful of products. The Comune lists them: the Pignone red onion, the potato, the Cenerino bean, the dell’Aquila bean (a variety found only here) and the Lupinaro bean. The potato goes into gnocchi, potato cake and \u00abpan di patate\u00bb; there are also sausages with beans, polenta with cabbage and home-made ravioli. For years these products were the currency of exchange with the seaside villages, Levanto and the Cinque Terre.<\/p>\n

The village festival is \u00abGli Orti di Pignone\u00bb, a late-summer market and exhibition with produce, food and music. The Comune gives two different periods (the last weekend of August or the first week of September) and in 2026 it was held on 30 and 31 August: the date changes, so ask the Comune before planning your trip. At the summer festivals they also serve asado<\/em>, Argentine-style grilled meat, which recalls emigration to Latin America. What is grown, when it is harvested and how to buy the products are covered in our guide to the typical products<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There are only a few places to eat in the village and their opening hours are not published: if you want lunch, call ahead \u26a0\ufe0f. Otherwise eat at Levanto, at Monterosso or in your base on the coast.<\/p>\n

Walks and hikes<\/h2>\n
\"Panorama<\/figure>\n

The village is good walking country, but it is important to separate what is documented from what is not. The climb to the Castellaro and the route around the Sant’Antonino caves are the short walks that the Comune mentions in its pages; for times and difficulty, ask at the Comune.<\/p>\n

For the long walks towards the coast, the official trails of the Cinque Terre National Park do not start from Pignone: provincial road 38 climbs towards Il Termine and the Colle di Gritta, and from there the Sentiero Verde Azzurro starts, leading to Sant’Antonio Mesco and Levanto. The Park gives the waymark as 591 and indicates about an hour and a half from Il Termine to Sant’Antonio Mesco, then about two hours and a quarter to Levanto. There are also unofficial tracks linking Pignone to Levanto or Monterosso along the ridges: they are not verified, so we do not recommend them; ask at the Comune or at the CAI in La Spezia, and check the state of the trails on the website of the Cinque Terre National Park<\/a>. For everything else, see the page on the Cinque Terre trails<\/a> and the Sentiero Azzurro<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Among the places mentioned in guides is the Mulino Calzetta, a hikers’ refuge since 2003: it is not confirmed whether it is open today or how to reach it, so do not plan a stop there without asking first. Carry water and do not set out when the forecast is unsettled: after rain, roads and paths can have landslides.<\/p>\n

When to go to Pignone<\/h2>\n

The best seasons are spring and autumn, with mild temperatures and clear light. At 189 metres the climate is about one degree cooler than on the coast (estimate). In summer the evenings are pleasant; August is the month of festivals, with the Assumption on the 15th and the Orti market. In winter the village is quiet and many places may be closed: call ahead. Heavy rain is more frequent in autumn, and after a weather alert provincial road 38 may be closed by landslides, as happened in January 2025. For the ten-day forecast and the climate month by month see the Pignone weather<\/a> page.<\/p>\n

Day trips from Pignone<\/h2>\n
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