If you blink at the wrong moment on your Riviera train journey, you may miss it, but that would be a loss and a pity
We first discovered Cervo about a year ago when our train journey to some other place down the Italian Riviera had been interrupted, falling rocks having damaged the tracks, and a bus replacement service was taking us on to the road.
I am only mentioning this because from the train, you can easily fail to spot Cervo altogether: most trains do not stop there, and the tracks are perhaps running too close by the Old Town for you to get a good impression.
From the road, conversely, you have a splendid view of Cervo and will understand why it is considered one of the most attractive small towns in this part of northern Italy between the French border and Genoa.
There are many hilltop villages in the region, but Cervo is special since it is a rare one of such villages that were built immediately by the sea. Most of these “fortress villages” were constructed further inland, to provide their inhabitants with safety from marauding pirates, but Cervo is located on a cliff and allows its defenders to strafe anybody who dares to approach it from the coast …
… although these days, piracy not being what it once was in the Mediterranean, the people who approach Cervo are mainly harmless and armed with nothing but their cameras. If they come at all, that is: we had the Old Town largely to ourselves on a weekday in January, but one can easily imagine that the place will feel a lot busier during the summer months.
I would advise you to approach Cervo town centre in a circular move, using the footpath outside the ramparts, the circonvallazione …
… not so much to confuse any armed defenders but to enter the fortified town through the ancient northern gate, as has been the tradition for visitors throughout most of Cervo’s history.
Inside the walls of the ancient castello, which protects the northern gate …
… there is a museum whose reception doubles up as a tourist information office. Ask for an information leaflet and a map.
Read also: Follow the Monet
Various parallel streets run from here to the south. Take your time to explore one or two of them …
… casting a glimpse at the many palazzi, 16th century residential homes of the town’s most prosperous inhabitants (plaques near the doorways provide you with some basic information about the buildings) …
… and perhaps finding a moment to step inside the Oratorio di Santa Caterina chapel which is decorated with late medieval fresco paintings …
… before you arrive at the high Baroque church of San Giovanni Baptista that towers so majestically above the town.
On the terrace at the foot of the church, there is a friendly little cafe where you can have a cup of coffee or a snack in the sunshine …
… and enjoy the splendid views of Cervo.
