Tourist information - Lavagna
The village of Lavagna got its name from the slate rock, in Ligurian called "lavagna". Slate was formed in this area 70 million years ago in concurrence with the formation of the Alps.
Lavagna, a tourist town with impressive beaches, was almost certainly founded in the 10th century and linked its history to the Earls of Fieschi, a significant Genoese family, linked to a famous and unsuccessful conspiracy against the Doria family. The Fieschi increased their capability thanks to trading. Lavagna and its surrounding villages owe this family the architectural monumental works, much like the Basilica of San Salvatore, in the municipality of Cogorno, a few kilometres from the hinterland. The Fieschi resided their apogee in the '300s along with the accession to the papal throne of Sinibaldo, Innocent IV, and a few years after his death, with his nephew Ottobuono (Adrian V).
The town represents the natural outlet for the market of slate, for which it has become famous for centuries. Due to the complications in transporting it, slate was basically used directly on site where it was extracted, yet it began slowly to embellish the Ligurian hinterland with roofs, houses, stairs as well as other objects made with this black stone that time turns grey. Only towards the mid '800s, thanks to the construction of a road network, slate was transferred below. Lavagna became, in this way, the port of loading of the slabs of stone that today get to the world. Over the last decades, Lavagna has stimulated many tourist activities by giving itself with a modern port and also an array of structures and services. Lavagna offers tourists a land rich of traditions and folklore, a sea rich of bays and wonderful gorges, outstanding beaches, a mild weather, gentle seasons, a friendly landscape. And also for cruising lovers, Lavagna is known mainly as berthing. In a surface of 290.000 sq. m.
Lavagna offers 1600 parking places for boats up to 50 meters in length; it is the widest tourist port of the Mediterraneo. It could be a pity if all those who arrive from the sea stop here without exploring heart of the ancient town or without using the bathing and tourist establishments of Lavagna. A hassle-free walk in Roma Street is actually enough, just like, to never regret having taken quite some time on land. On the old houses of this charming street, there is a succession of shops with inviting windows that release a particular charm that merely the shopping in holiday places can offer.
Lavagna provides a bathing "extension" in its eastern suburb: Cavi. Beaches, establishments, swimming pools, sport equipment, hotels, apartment hotels, guest houses, entertainment sites, and restaurant: Lavagna has all of this. From a simple dive in the clear sea to a breathtaking paraglide, from canoeing to riding practiced in the open spaces of the hinterland, from windsurf to open-sea sailing: all this is possible at Lavagna and at its bathing resort. Getting around Lavagna is pleasant and easy: from here it's possible to reach in a short time all the other places of Tigullio and follow the route favored for discovering Fontanabuona valley. In this valley, where slate is extracted and machined, the natural and environmental beauties still preserve a primitive charm that offer a typical surroundings of the Ligurian Apennine.
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