Discover Baia dei Saraceni, Varigotti

The baia dei Saraceni is the enclosed inlet behind the Punta Crena promontory at Varigotti, in the comune of Finale Ligure, province of Savona. The promontory acts as a barrier between the borgo and the natural inlet, which was used in the past as a port.

It was the reason Varigotti existed. The port located here offered a safe landing for Byzantine ships that kept the links with the fortifications still active along the Ligurian Apennines and the Maritime Alps, and the hills inland separated Varigotti and nearby Noli from the Po hinterland, protecting both from barbarian incursion.

It is also where the Saracen name attaches. The bay carries it, as do the inhabitants — traditionally called saraceni — and the hamlet of Ca' de Mori. The suggestion that Varigotti was a mainland base of the Saracens of Frassineto is recorded as a hypothesis without real confirmation, so the name is attested and the occupation is not.

Today it is a beach. The harbour silted; the village moved to the other side of the promontory; and what remains is an enclosed bay below a hill of ruins, reached on foot.

Why is it called the Saracens' bay?

Because the name attached and the history did not. The people of Varigotti were traditionally called saraceni, one hamlet is Ca' de Mori, and the record suggests its building techniques may indicate an Arab fort. But the hypothesis that Varigotti was a mainland base of the Saracens of Frassineto is explicitly recorded as devoid of real confirmation.

Was this really a harbour?

Yes, and an important one. After the fall of the Roman empire the port here gave Byzantine ships a safe landing, maintaining the link with the fortifications still active along the Ligurian Apennines and the Maritime Alps, and it was defended by a castrum on the promontory above. Later it was a base of maritime defence and attack for the Del Carretto.

Who filled it in?

The Genoese are blamed, in 1341, after a defeat of Finale by Genoa — and the record immediately adds that the fact is controversial. A second account instead says the inlet was destroyed by the Genoese fleet in antiquity, giving no year. The page carries both rather than choosing.

How do I get to it?

On foot. The bay lies behind the Punta Crena promontory, which separates it from the village, and nothing published describes a road, a path grade or a walking time. The only parking on record in Varigotti is the public car park on the old railway trackbed.

Can I camp there?

Not now. Free camping was still possible on this beach until the mid-1960s, and the record notes its end without giving a reason. Nothing published describes current rules.

What is the building on the hill above?

The old chiesa di San Lorenzo, mid-slope on the promontory and dominating the bay. It was Varigotti's first parish church and is all that remains of a Benedictine monastery placed under the abbey of Lérins by a charter of 28 August 1127. It has its own page here.