Celle Ligure, Province of SAVONA<BR><BR>

An elegant promenade running alongside the sandy beach joins the Plains and the Centre, the two parts of the town of Celle Ligure, a seaside resort seven kilometres away from Savona. The Plains forms the modern part of the town, where you can find hotels and services, while the Centre is the oldest part, which first developed during the Middle Ages in rows of buildings on either side of the road. The beautiful Baroque parish church of San Michele Arcangelo stands on a high point and has a bell-tower that was made from a former watchtower. Among the works inside the church are a sixteenth-century wooden crucifix, a poliptych by Perin del Vaga (showing the direct influence of Raphael) and, in the sacristy, one of the oldest existing processional carriages (1481). Beside the church stands the sixteenth-century Oratorio dei Disciplinati, with a wooden statue of Saint Michael by Maragliano. The church of Nostra Signora della Consolazione is a seventeenth-century reconstruction of the earlier Sanctuary of the Madonna della Grotta.<BR>
After passing under several different dominions, the history of Celle became linked with that of Genoa from the end of the fourteenth century: the Republic recognised the town's statutes in 1414, the year in which Francesco della Rovere was born in the district of Pecorile. He became Pope Sixtus IV in 1471 and his birthplace can still be seen today. The municipal district of Bottini is situated higher up on the hills and has a centuries-old park, while the district of Natta is where cork-oaks grow. If you climb even higher you come to Cassisi, a fine panoramic location with an interesting fortress-house and a windmill. The hillside vineyards produce wines called Lumassino and Rollo. Among the sports facilities are a horse-riding centre and a sailing school.<BR><BR>

Note: The above is an extracts taken from the official web-site of the Regione Ligure, Agriculture and tourism department - Tourist section.