Liguria · Imperia
Cipressa
A ridgeline village above the Riviera dei Fiori, the climb that decides the final selection of a famous cycling race and a sixteenth-century Saracen-defence tower as its summit.
Known for
MILANO-SAN REMO
The Cipressa climb has decided the final selection of Milano-San Remo since it was added to the route in 1982, 5.6 km at four percent.
TORRE GALLINARA
Sixteenth-century Saracen-defence watchtower on the ridge, signal point in the chain of coastal towers from Ventimiglia to Genova.
LINGUEGLIETTA
Frazione with an eleventh-century church-fortress on the hill west of the centro storico, also listed among the Borghi più belli d'Italia.
When to visit
Best · Apr–Oct
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Why come
Cipressa sits on a ridge above the Ligurian Sea, ten kilometers west of Imperia. The ridge runs inland from the coast road, and the village occupies its high point, with the frazione of Lingueglietta set further west on the same line of hills, its medieval street plan still intact and separate in character from the centro storico below. Above the village, a tower built against Saracen raids stands as one signal point in a chain that once ran the length of the coast from Ventimiglia to Genova, the raids themselves having shaped settlement patterns here through the late Middle Ages: villages set back and up from the shore, watch points on the high ground.
In Lingueglietta the same pressure produced a church converted into a fortified shelter, merlons added to its roofline when the danger from the sea increased. Below the ridge, the valley is olive country, Taggiasca terraces dropping from the high ground to the coast road. The result is a village whose defensive geography, built to keep distance from the water, now sits directly above a road cut for the opposite purpose: getting from the water to the ridge as fast as possible.
The Sunday letter
We haven’t written Cipressa’s letter yet.
One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.
What to see
Torre Gallinara
Cylindrical form on the ridge above the village, a viewpoint across the Riviera dei Fiori from the walkway that circles its base.
Chiesa Fortezza di San Pietro
Proto-Romanesque church in Lingueglietta, its roofline still carrying the merlons added when pirate raids intensified along the coast.
Lingueglietta
Frazione on the western ridge with intact medieval streets, reached by the road that climbs away from the centro storico.
Chiesa di San Lorenzo
Parish church at the top of the village, its bell tower the visual marker riders and spectators look for at the finish of the climb.
Salita della Cipressa
The road rises from the shoreline through olive terraces before the gradient steepens toward the village, a climb ridden rather than only watched.
The slow-trip planner
Building a trip? Find where Cipressa fits in a slow Italy circuit.
Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.
We recommend
Where to eat
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
Ristorante Da U TittiRistorante
Ristorante Da U Titti carries one Gambero Rosso fork (79/100).
Living here
- Population 1,201
- Commuter belti
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Nearest airport Genoa, 1 h 41 min drive
- Regional capital Genova, 1 h 46 min drive
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
Recognised as
The numbers
- Elevation: 232 m
- Population: 1,201
- Surface area: 9.39 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
Close by
More towns near Cipressa
Taggia
Province: Imperia
The Argentina valley's medieval seat above the Riviera dei Fiori, the town that gave its name to the Taggiasca olive grown across western Liguria.
Diano
Province: Imperia
A twin destination on the Riviera dei Fiori: a medieval hilltop borgo above and a beach resort below, sharing one bay and one olive valley.
Cervo
Province: Imperia
A hilltop village on the Riviera di Ponente built by coral fishermen, named for the Roman mansio on the Via Julia Augusta.
Badalucco
Province: Imperia
A medieval village wrapped in a bend of the Argentina torrent, with murals on its caruggi and a Slow Food bean on its terraces.
Ceriana
Province: Imperia
A medieval village at 369 meters above the Valle Armea, inland from Sanremo, built on the Roman castrum that gave it its name.
🎨 Borghi più belli d'Italia
More Borghi più belli d'Italia towns in Liguria
Ameglia
Province: La Spezia
A hilltop borgo at 89 meters above the mouth of the Magra, the Lunigiana edge of Liguria where the river meets the Gulf of Poets.
Apricale
Province: Imperia
A medieval hill village in the Nervia Valley, named for the Latin apricus, sunny, with a tenth-century castle shaped like a lizard on the rock.
Borgio Verezzi
Province: Savona
Two villages joined under one comune in 1933: Borgio on the coast below, Verezzi on the pink-stone hill above.
Brugnato
Province: La Spezia
The medieval ecclesiastical capital of an inland Ligurian valley, seat of a diocese from 1133 to 1820, with a co-cathedral built over a Columban monastery.
Campo Ligure
Province: Genova
A Spinola borgo at 342 meters in the Stura valley north of Genova, the last working centre for gold and silver filigree in Italy.