Discover Chiesa parrocchiale di San Lorenzo, Varigotti

The chiesa di San Lorenzo is a religious building on the strada statale 1 Via Aurelia in the rione of Varigotti at Finale Ligure, in the province of Savona. It is the seat of the parish community of the same name of the vicariate of Finale Ligure-Noli, in the diocese of Savona-Noli.

It exists because the village moved. As the population shifted from the old harbour round to the west of the Punta Crena promontory, where Varigotti stands today, a new church of San Lorenzo was built for them, affiliated to the Pieve finalese — the old San Lorenzo above the port being by then too far from the houses.

Its first citations date from 1356. Of the original building, only the late Gothic bell tower remains visible, and even that was remodelled in later periods.

The present church is of the 1620s and 1630s. The building a visitor sees was erected between 1624 and 1637 by the architect Andrea Storace, after deep interventions during the seventeenth century that gave it its Baroque character.

It is Baroque by renovation rather than by original design. The characteristics are those of the Baroque style, the church having been the object of deep interventions during the seventeenth century — and then rebuilt outright between 1624 and 1637 by Andrea Storace.

The plan is minimal and the one gesture is the dome. A single nave with a chapel set against the left side, surmounted by a dome. There is no transept, no aisle and no second chapel on the record.

The facade is regional rather than Baroque. Simple lines decorated with bicoloured horizontal bands in typical Ligurian style — a striping convention older and more local than the architecture behind it.

And the tower belongs to another century entirely. Late Gothic, remodelled in later periods, inherited rather than designed. A Baroque church with a Gothic campanile is the signature of a building that replaced something on the same spot.

It was built twice, and the second time left the tower alone. A church first cited in 1356; an original building of 1578-1585 that later became the canonica; and the present church of 1624-1637.

The architect is named, which for a village church is not usual. Andrea Storace. Nothing read for this page records anything else about him, and the attribution is the record's own.

The seventeenth century did the work and the sixteenth supplied the contents. The polyptych of 1584 and the wooden tabernacle of the sixteenth century predate the building they stand in; the Madonna del Rosario canvas is of the seventeenth and so belongs to it.

The oratorio di Sant’Antonio Abate was built to the same plain standard. Single nave, barrel vault, a facade lightened by three large windows and lines as simple as the church's. Its one decorative element, a painting above the entrance, is now completely erased.

When is it open?

Unknown, and this page will not guess. No Mass time, opening hour or admission is published by anything readable: the comune publishes none for any building in the comune, and no parish or diocesan page could be reached while this entry was written. It is a working parish church, so expect it open around services.

Why is there a second church of San Lorenzo up the hill?

Because that one came first. The old San Lorenzo stands on Punta Crena above the baia dei Saraceni and was Varigotti's original parish church. When the population moved west of the promontory to where the village is now, this church was built for them and affiliated to the Pieve finalese. The old one has its own page here.

How old is the bell tower?

Older than the church around it. It is late Gothic, inherited from an earlier building on the site and remodelled in later periods. The record is not consistent about which earlier building: one statement attaches it to the church first cited in 1356 and another to an original church of 1578-1585 that became the canonica. Both agree it is late Gothic and pre-Baroque.

What is the polyptych?

A San Lorenzo of 1584, with the saint carrying his palm and gridiron, San Pietro with the keys to the left and Sant'Andrea to the right. Its cartouche names the commissioners: the provost Pietro Averio and the massari Giorgio Mendari and Battista Mauri. Above, the Madonna and Child with a coral necklace between San Bernardo and San Benedetto, and God in the Trinity's triangle in the cimasa. Restored 1954 and 2021.

Who built it?

Andrea Storace, between 1624 and 1637. Nothing read for this page records anything else about him.

What is the building next door?

The oratorio di Sant'Antonio Abate, seat of the confraternity of the same name, standing beside the parish church a few metres from the beach. A single nave with a barrel vault and a facade lightened by three large windows, as plain as the church's; the painting it once carried above the entrance is by now completely erased.