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Stemma di Recco

Liguria · Genova

Recco

A coastal town rebuilt from 90 percent destruction in 1943, known for IGP cheese focaccia and Pro Recco water polo.

Known for

  • FOCACCIA COL FORMAGGIO

    Two thin sheets of unleavened dough sealing fresh stracchino; IGP since 2012, made only in Recco, Avegno, Sori and Camogli.

  • PRO RECCO

    The most successful water polo club in men's history, founded 1913, with thirty-seven Serie A1 titles and nineteen Coppa Italia.

  • REBUILT FROM 1943

    The Allies destroyed 90 percent of the town in 1943 because of its strategic viaduct; what stands today is postwar reconstruction.

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

Recco sits on a small inlet of the Golfo Paradiso between Sori and Camogli, fifteen kilometers from Genova. The town's viaduct made it a strategic Allied target in the second world war; the 1943 bombings killed 127 inhabitants and left the town to be rebuilt through the late 1940s and early 1950s, so the church, the bridge and much of the fabric standing today date from that reconstruction rather than before it. The focaccia has documented origins in the nineteenth century, well before the war or the IGP designation gave it formal status, and it is made in a small cluster of towns along this stretch of coast, of which Recco is only one, though the one that gives the dish its name.

Pro Recco's history runs on a separate track entirely, a club founded in 1913 whose record has nothing to do with the town's postwar rebuilding. What ties the two together is only the place itself: a small gulf town, destroyed and remade, that carries a nineteenth-century food and a twentieth-century sporting dynasty as its two claims to notice.

The Sunday letter

We haven’t written Recco’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.

Recco — photo 1
Recco — photo 2

What to see

  • Santuario di Nostra Signora del Suffragio

    The campanile rebuilt on the site of the main church lost to the bombings is the tallest postwar bell tower in Liguria.

  • Golfo Paradiso seafront

    Small inlet between Sori and Camogli, with the Bandiera Blu beach and a short lungomare looking south to the Portofino peninsula.

  • Ponte di Recco

    The rebuilt railway viaduct stands on the site of the structure that drew the wartime bombings, and remains the spine of the modern town.

  • Monte Esoli

    Hill behind the town, walking trails into the upper Recco valley with views down the gulf to Camogli.

The slow-trip planner

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Plan your trip

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.

  • Da ö VittorioRistorante

    Da ö Vittorio has one Gambero Rosso fork (75/100), a place on Italy's historic-locali register and a spot in the Michelin Guide.

  • ManuelinaRistorante

    Manuelina carries one Gambero Rosso fork (79/100), a place on Italy's historic-locali register, plus a spot in the Michelin Guide.

Signature dish

Focaccia di Recco col formaggioBread

Two paper-thin sheets of dough around molten crescenza cheese, baked until blistered, protected by IGP.

See every town in our catalogue with a dish of its own.

Through the year

What happens here

Feasts and festivals that come back year after year. We give the month rather than the date, because the date moves and the month rarely does. Check with the source before you plan a journey around one.

Living here

  • Population 9,399
  • Commuter belti
  • Pharmacy in town
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Train station in the comune
  • Nearest airport Genoa, 34 min drive
  • Market day Monday mornings
  • Regional capital Genova, 25 min drive
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

Recognised as

The numbers

  • Elevation: 5 m
  • Population: 9,399
  • Surface area: 9.77 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.

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