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The splendid bay of Deiva Marina

The splendid bay of Deiva Marina opens out at the foot of the large area of woodland that leads down from a height of 800 metres at the Bracco Pass. One of the more secluded towns on the Eastern Riviera, it is nowadays easy to reach thanks to the motorway exit and the railway station.The first inhabitants came down from the hillside towns of Mezzema, Piazza, Passano and Castagnola and founded the first nucleus of Deiva, which served as a market town, around the seventh century. Marina developed later, when the time was right for expanding trade in the hinterland thanks to seagoing activities. A feudal estate of the Da Passano family for a long time, it passed into the hands of the Genoese in the twelfth century; they fortified the town with two towers whose ruins can still be seen. The two centres of Deiva and Marina are very close to each other, and have almost been joined as they have grown. The old town centre is built around the parish church of Sant'Antonio Abate, which was opened in 1739. Its interior holds some fine works of art and the parvis outside the church is made of coloured pebbles with a central design showing the trade winds and other themes connected with the sea. The oratory of San Giovanni Battista stands in the same square.

The parish church of San Michele Arcangelo is situated in Mazzema. It originates from the eighth century and preserves a statue from the school of Maragliano. The Sanctuary of the Assunta at Piani della Madonna is also very old (tenth century).

There are many private villas dating back to the eighteenth and nineteenth century. The area where oak trees are grown for cork production is very interesting. There are many paths leading from Deiva through the Bracco Pass to Framura and other places in the Vara Valley.

Objects from the Copper Age have been found on Monte Carmo, not far from Mezzema. These are arrow-heads and fragments of domestic objects and are kept in the museum at Chiavari. You can see the cave called the Grotta dell'Oca in the district of Gea. Besides facilities for tennis and football, you can also hire equipment for sailing and canoeing and for making excursions on horseback and mountain bike.

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