Nicola: Historic Borgo and Wide Panoramas

Nicola sits high above the Magra Valley, offering panoramic views. The village also opens onto a broad stretch of sea, where the Tuscan and Ligurian seas meet on the horizon. In the historic borgo, cobblestones, slopes and uneven steps shape the visit. If you choose Nicola as your destination, landscape and local history lie side by side: the view stretches across the valley, while the path through the borgo runs over uneven stones and steps.

The Borgo’s Elevated Setting and Character

From Nicola, the panorama takes in a broad stretch of sea, where the Tuscan and Ligurian seas meet on the horizon. The village also overlooks the Magra Valley. Hidden gardens lie among houses arranged like a defensive fortress. Sections of the fortification walls, for example, are still visible in Piazzetta dell'acacia. The village landscape thus brings together wide-open scenery, the fortress-like arrangement of the houses and gardens hidden between them.

Walking Through Lanes and Steps

The historic borgo is accessible on foot. You will encounter cobblestones, some slopes and uneven surfaces. The historic paving consists of irregular stones laid in horizontal sections, with a row of dressed stones running down the middle. This paving is a defining feature of the village landscape and the surface you walk on through the borgo. One distinctive route through the Gironi is the so-called Scala Matta: uneven steps lead up to the village’s highest point, where the church square is located. The horizontally arranged sections of paving and the stepped ascent present different walking conditions. Take both into account when planning your visit.

Church and Historical Traditions

The Church of Saints Filippo and Giacomo has a Baroque façade dating from 1759. Its history also includes a pipe organ built in 1842 by Nicomede Agati of Pistoia. The original chapel is said to have been built by the Byzantines in the 6th or 7th century in gratitude for the conquest of Luni. The marble devotional reliefs known as maestà generally date from the 17th and 19th centuries. This name points to another aspect of the village landscape: religious images rendered as marble reliefs. Nicola is also associated with a historic procession. For many centuries, once a year, parishioners walked to the Church of San Marco in Luni for the Rogazioni di San Marco. Thus, architectural and organ details, devotional reliefs and a traditional religious practice all come together in Nicola.

Getting There and the Circular Route

A road leads through the woods from Serravalle to the Borgo di Nicola. A circular walk described in 2009, Ponte di Isola–Nicola–Palazzetti, follows a mule track to the borgo and reaches Nicola’s piazza. From the piazza, panoramic views stretch across the sea and the densely populated coast. The route described thus combines the walk to the borgo with a stop in the piazza and its coastal panorama. Check current trail conditions before setting out.

Discover more destinations: Bocca Di Magra, San Bernardino, Varese Ligure, Fiascherino, Manarola, Sesta Godano, Borghetto Di Vara, Madonna di Buonviaggio

Go to the main travel overview: La Spezia.