Levanto is located in the province of La Spezia, in a valley shaded by olive and pine trees overlooking the sea is part of the Mountain Community of Riviera La Spezia and the National Park of Cinque Terre. It is a highly attractive tourist resort thanks to the superb beaches with crystalline water and beautiful backdrops, as well as monumental features with important churches and works of art. Levanto represents an ideal destination for tourists that love hiking, allowing long walks on trails in the woods, between olive groves and vineyards, but also for lovers of surfing.
The center is an ancient foundation, already in Roman times there are traces of a settlement called Ceuta, situated in an important trading point location. With the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the town became a property of the Byzantine Empire. It was a fief under the rule of the Malaspina Family. In 1229 it was under the control of Genoa. In the Middle Ages thanks its maritime location near the Via Francigena, it was a very important commercial center. The town's territory expanded over three periods: a first in the Middle Ages, a second in the XV century with the building of the new town in the Plain of Ghiararo and a third between XIX and XX centuries until the present conformation.
Not to miss:
The Church of St. Andrew, built in the XIII century, which preserves inside un Ostensorio ('500) and a XV century fresco of the Piedmont School that features the Madonna and Child with Saints Andrew and John the Evangelist. In the apse there is a wooden choir, dating from the late 1500s, a high altar of the XVIII century, a painting by Gerolamo Brusco of Savona, a wooden statue of the Madonna del Carmine of the School of Genoa, dated XVII-XVIII century and a wooden crucifix of the XV century.
The Church of the Santissima Annunziata, which preserves a painting attributed to the famous artist Bernardo Strozzi.
The Church of St. James.
The Church of San Rocco.
The Church of Santa Maria della Costa.
The Piazza della Loggia, named this way for the presence of a lodge of the late medieval era.
Piazza Cavour, which houses under its arcades the Town Hall and the City Library.
The medieval castle, which is still well preserved.