Calizzano: Hiking, History and Autumn Cuisine

Calizzano combines marked routes, a rich history of churches and the town, and a seasonal Ligurian sweet-making tradition. These offer different starting points for planning your trip: trails and forests shape a possible outdoor stay, while churches, historic place names and regional recipes offer their own themes to explore in town. When looking for hotels in Calizzano, your plans for hiking, local history or regional cuisine can help guide your choice.

Hiking Routes and Forest

The marked routes differ in their locations and trail markers. One route leads from Località Franchella to Lago di Cravè and is marked H. Another runs from Calizzano via Prati di Mereta and Cascina Coccalini to San Mauro; its marker consists of three small dots arranged in a triangle. The third leads from Madonna delle Grazie via Barozzo, Bric Bedò and the Alta Via dei Monti Liguri to Melogno and is marked “=”. The markers and place names offer practical guidance for distinguishing the routes: a lake as a destination, a series of waypoints on the route to San Mauro, and a path along the Alta Via to Melogno. The Barbottina adds another hiking highlight: a forest of monumental beech trees. It can be reached via the Alta Via dei Monti Liguri between stages 13 and 14. This brings both trail markers and destinations, as well as a distinctive forest landscape, into view.

Churches and Local History

The history of the buildings can be traced through specific places and periods. The Santuario di Nostra Signora delle Grazie preserves a frescoed Romanesque portico and a 14th-century fresco of the Madonna and Child. The Chiesa di San Lorenzo was built between 1587 and 1600 on the site of an earlier Romanesque marquises’ church. The Convento dei Domenicani and the Chiesa dell’Annunziata al Pasquale were begun and completed between 1530 and 1540. The Chiesa del Rosario is the former Annunziata al Pasquale.

The historic Borgo is also part of this story: it was surrounded by walls on three sides and had three gates, the Porta di San Rocco, the Porta della Barbacana and the Porta del Mulino. The town’s history also includes ironworking. Calizzano’s historic economy benefited from at least four ironworks commissioned by the Marchesi del Finale and the Republic of Genoa on the banks of the Bormida and its tributaries. Sacred architecture, former fortifications and ironworking reveal different facets of the town’s history.

Autumn Sweets

Pan e ossa dei morti are traditional Ligurian sweets associated with remembering the dead. They are common in Calizzano and the Val Bormida and are eaten especially in autumn around All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. The two names also refer to different preparations: Pan dei morti contains crumbled dry biscuits, flour, cocoa, white wine, dried fruit, cinnamon and egg white. Ossa dei morti, by contrast, are dry biscuits made with flour, bicarbonate of soda and whole hazelnuts. The season and these days of remembrance give this regional tradition its particular place in the calendar.

Sources and Practical Information

Calizzano has 13 springs where you can stop for a refreshing drink. From Calizzano, you can reach the Ligurian Riviera by car via Colle del Melogno in about 30 minutes; the route is 23 kilometres long. Gathering forest products is also part of local life: it is regulated by a consortium founded in 1983, particularly with regard to the mushrooms of Calizzano. Revenue from the sale of permits to gather forest products funds the maintenance of roads, trails, fountains and equipped rest areas.

Discover more destinations: Bormida-Genepro, Bormida, Castelvecchio Di Rocca Barbena, Varazze, Laigueglia, Palo-pataré, Vezzi Portio, Bossaneto.

Return to the regional travel overview: Savona.