Varigotti

Varigotti is a small beach village on the Riviera di Ponente, a frazione of the comune of Finale Ligure since 1869. It stands out among Ligurian coastal villages for its whitewashed, flat-roofed houses set directly on the sand, facing the Baia dei Saraceni (Saracens' Bay) and closed to the west by the Punta Crena promontory. The village has a layered history: it was a fortified Byzantine outpost known as Varicottis, destroyed by the Lombard king Rothari in 643, and its Saracen name is a popular legend rather than historical founding — the raids of the 9th–10th centuries left their mark on local memory even though the Saracens destroyed rather than founded settlements here. In 1127 Cistercian monks from the Lérins abbey took over the church of San Lorenzo at Punta Crena, and the village developed through the later Middle Ages around that monastic presence. The distinctive white, flat-roofed architecture gives Varigotti a look often compared to North Africa, unusual for the Ligurian coast.

Varigotti is reached by road from Finale Ligure, the comune it belongs to, along the coastal SS1 (Via Aurelia); the nearest railway station is at Finale Ligure.

The village is small and walkable, strung along the beachfront beneath Punta Crena.

The whitewashed, flat-roofed houses of the old village along the Baia dei Saraceni are themselves the main sight. The church of San Lorenzo at Punta Crena, dating to the Cistercian monastic presence established in 1127, sits above the village on the promontory.

The Baia dei Saraceni beach is the village's main draw for swimming and sunbathing.

Varigotti is a short drive along the coast from Finale Ligure, the comune it belongs to, and within reach of other Riviera di Ponente towns such as Noli and Savona.