Sestri Levante: ART AND CULTURE

Saint Mary of Nazaret Church

A prior chapel was documented in the same place in 1368. In 1604, because of the enlargement of the ancient isthmus that linked the island to the mainland, a new church was built by Giovanni Battista Carlone. The church features Baroque decorations and a wood 12th century Crucifix coming from San Nicolò Church.

San Nicolò Church

Built in Romanesque style in 1151, over a preexisting church, it was parish church until the beginning of 17th century. It features three naves separated by columns with cubic capitals, a 15th century pseudo-protiro portal and a steeple with pyramidal cusp.

Annunziata Convent

It was built in 1469 by the Dominican Order in a splendid position directly on the rocks of Portobello in the Silent Bay. During 19th century the convent was transformed in a sea colony and in 1995 was acquired and restored by the Municipality of Sestri Levante that now uses it for events and exhibitions.

Rizzi Art Gallery

The Rizzi Gallery was created following the death in 1960 of Marcello Rizzi, a lawyer from Sestri Levante who willed that his entire collection of paintings and art objects be displayed to the public in his villa in Via Cappuccini, which was built under the direction of his family in 1926.
To carry out his wishes, the lawyer wanted a foundation to be established and supervised by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, for the creation and management of the gallery.
The collection became accessible to the public in 1967 and is displayed on the three floors of the building, in a splendid position by the sandy shores of the Silent Bay. In the current layout, created between 1990 and 1996, the rooms on the first floor are re-enactments of a bourgeois residence during the late 1800s and early 1900s.
The second and third floors feature the most important paintings and works, displayed in precise chronological order and grouped according to the various schools (Genoese, Lombard, Emilian, Venetian, Tuscan), from the early 1400s through the 1700s.
On the third floor a smaller room is used for temporary rotating exhibits of the numerous drawings and incisions owned by the gallery.
The Rizzi Gallery is the most important collection of paintings and works of art between Genoa and La Spezia.

Historic Villas

The Patrician families of Genoa frequently chose to build their summer homes in Sestri Levante and, as a result, this is where the largest number of aristocratic Villas can be found after Genoa itself.
The architectural characteristics of the villas and the aspects tied to their agricultural function can be traced mainly to the late 19th century and beginning of the 20th century.
Among them are:
Villa Cattaneo
Villa Balbi già Brignole
Villa Fieschi
Villa Sertorio
Villa Gualino
Villa Pallavicini
Villa Durazzo

hotel

• Grand Hotel Villa Balbi
• Grande Albergo
• Hotel Vis a Vis
• Hotel Due Mari
• Grand Hotel dei Castelli