Ceriana
Member of I Borghi più belli d'Italia
At Easter, four choirs of local men sing ancient Latin chants through the lanes and the main church, the high point of Ceriana's Holy Week processions. The village faces east over the Armea valley in the hills behind Sanremo, so in winter the sun leaves it at midday. Its defenders once held off Saracen raiders by pouring boiling oil through trapdoors in the walls.
Highlights
- Holy Week processions with choirs singing Latin chants
- The August festival of Ceriana's own sausage, the sousissa serianasca
- The old and new churches of Santi Pietro e Paolo
- Local extra-virgin olive oil
- The plaque to Nobel chemist Giulio Natta on Via della Visitazione
Text adapted from Wikipedia (Ceriana (IT), Ceriana (EN)), Wikivoyage (Ceriana). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Population: 1,103
Things to see
- Santa Caterina (IT)
- Santa Marta (IT)
- Santo Spirito (IT)
Events through the year
- Holy Week ritesConfraternities process singing ancient chants; chestnut-bark horns sound
- Feast of Saints Peter and Paul
- Sagra della Sousissa SerianascaThe four confraternities cook Ceriana sausage in various ways
- Feast of the Madonna della VillaTorchlight procession and mass in front of the sanctuary
- Festival Internazionale delle Musiche della TerraVillage choirs sing alongside guest choirs, some from abroad
Dates follow the traditional patterns in our sources: check locally before you travel.
Adapted from Wikipedia (Ceriana). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Local food & wine
- Ceriana sausageCured meatSausage prepared by the town's confraternities, the village's typical dish
- FrisciöiDishFritters prepared in the square in Holy Week
- Extra virgin olive oilOlive oilOnce the town's main resource, still produced and prized
Adapted from Wikipedia (Ceriana), Wikivoyage (Ceriana). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where to sleep
1 place to stay within 3 km
- Hotels 1
Data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).