Scopri Noli

Un'introduzione concisa a Noli, alla sua geografia, storia e cultura.

Introduzione

Noli è un comune di 2.444 abitanti sulla Riviera di Ponente, in provincia di Savona, posto in un’insenatura chiusa a est dall’isola di Bergeggi e a sud-ovest dal capo omonimo, alla foce del torrente Luminella. I suoi 9,67 chilometri quadrati comprendono le frazioni interne di Tosse e Voze.

È stata una repubblica per seicentocinque anni. La Repubblica di Noli fu costituita il 7 agosto 1192 con decreto di Enrico VI di Svevia e finì il 2 dicembre 1797 con la campagna d’Italia di Napoleone. Fu una repubblica marinara, ma non una delle quattro più note. Il termine repubbliche marinare indica di norma Amalfi, Genova, Pisa e Venezia, i cui stemmi sono sulla bandiera della Marina Militare; oltre a quelle, la documentazione nomina Ancona, Gaeta, «la piccola Noli» e, in Dalmazia, Ragusa. Noli è la più piccola: 4 chilometri quadrati alla massima estensione, con circa 1.500 abitanti nel Settecento.

Il paese è stato fondato tre volte. La prima sulla vetta del monte Ursino, dove sorge il castello; la seconda nella zona adiacente alla chiesa di San Paragorio; la terza all’interno della cinta muraria attuale.

È ancora un borgo di pescatori, cosa rara su questa costa. Noli è uno dei pochi borghi costieri ad avere ancora pescatori del posto, che escono di notte con piccole barche a motore e rientrano la mattina. Fa parte de I borghi più belli d’Italia e ha la Bandiera blu.

Verificato su I borghi più belli d'Italia, ottobre 2026.

Geografia

Un comune di 9,67 km² in un’insenatura della Riviera di Ponente, chiusa dall’isola di Bergeggi a est e da Capo Noli a sud-ovest.

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Storia

Un municipio romano diventato repubblica il 7 agosto 1192 e rimasto tale finché Napoleone non la chiuse il 2 dicembre 1797.

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Cultura

Un patrono traslato da un’isola nel 1192, un pesce Presidio Slow Food e una loggia le cui lapidi ricordano Dante, Colombo e Giordano Bruno.

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Come è stato costruito e si è trasformato nel tempo

Un fronte a mare porticato come la Sottoripa genovese, oltre settanta torri nel Duecento e un castello rifatto nel 1552 per l’artiglieria.

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Clima

Mesomediterraneo con ombrotipo subumido, e inverni miti perché un crinale fra i 1.000 e i 1.400 m blocca l’aria fredda padana. Le medie pubblicate riguardano il litorale di Finale Ligure, non Noli.

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Domande frequenti

Noli era davvero una repubblica marinara?

Sì, ma non una delle quattro più note. Il termine repubbliche marinare indica di norma Amalfi, Genova, Pisa e Venezia, i cui stemmi compaiono sulla bandiera della Marina Militare. Oltre a quelle, la documentazione nomina Ancona, Gaeta, «la piccola Noli» e, in Dalmazia, Ragusa. Noli è la più piccola: circa 4 chilometri quadrati alla massima estensione.

Quanto durò la repubblica?

605 anni. Fu costituita il 7 agosto 1192 con decreto di Enrico VI di Svevia e finì il 2 dicembre 1797 con la campagna d’Italia di Napoleone.

È vero che il paese fu fondato tre volte?

È quello che dice la documentazione: la prima sulla vetta del monte Ursino, dove sta il castello; la seconda accanto alla chiesa di San Paragorio; la terza dentro le mura attuali.

Ci sono davvero settanta torri?

C’erano. Nel XIII secolo Noli costruì oltre settanta torri cittadine insieme alla cinta. Diverse sopravvivono, per lo più inglobate in case posteriori; quelle che si segnalano di solito sono la Torre del Comune e la Torre della Marina, duecentesche.

Si può entrare nel castello?

Non è pubblicato alcun orario o ingresso, né dal comune né da altri. L’enciclopedia lo descrive come ruderi restaurati di proprietà comunale — ma quella voce porta un avviso esplicito di assenza di fonti, quindi il dettaglio va preso con cautela.

Qual è la cattedrale?

La concattedrale di San Pietro, dal 1572. Prima lo era San Paragorio, fuori dalle mura, che è monumento nazionale italiano dal 28 dicembre 1890.

A chi sono dedicate le lapidi sotto la loggia?

A Dante Alighieri, che nomina Noli nel Purgatorio; a Cristoforo Colombo, il 31 maggio 1476, in partenza per il Portogallo; e a Giordano Bruno, nel 1576.

Che cosa si mangia?

I cicciarelli, che hanno un Presidio Slow Food, e il bianco locale, la Lumassina, delle valli fra Noli e Finale Ligure.

Verificato su Wikipedia, ottobre 2026.

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Verificato su Wikipedia — The definition "repubbliche marinare", born in the nineteenth century, generally refers to four Italian cities whose arms are reproduced on the ensign of the Marina Militare -- Amalfi, Genoa, Pisa and Venice -- but besides those four best known, Ancona, Gaeta, "la piccola Noli" and, in Dalmatia, Ragusa were also maritime republics, which at certain historical moments had an importance that was not secondary and in some cases comparable., The Republic of Noli was constituted on 7 August 1192 by decree of Henry VI of Swabia and ended on 2 December 1797 with the Italian campaign of Napoleon Bonaparte. It was a maritime republic under protectorate and an oligarchic republic, a protectorate and ally of the Republic of Genoa, having separated from the Del Carretto marquisate of Finale; its head of state was a Podesta and its deliberative organs the Consiglio dei Consoli e dei Capi di casa, and it achieved religious autonomy by obtaining a diocese of its own. Its maximum area was 4 square kilometres, with a population of 1,500 in the eighteenth century; its currency was Genoese, its resources commerce, fishing and olive growing, its productions glass and warships, and it traded with the Byzantine Empire, France, Spain and England, exporting spices, salt and glass. Its territory covered the comune of Noli and nearby possessions including Spotorno, often contested with Savona, Orco Feglino, Mallare, Vado and the island of Bergeggi., Noli was an ancient centre of the Ligures and a municipium in Roman times; its name is cited in documents of 1004 and 1005 as Naboli, deriving probably from Neapolis, the Greek-Latin for "new city". Some sources would have it arise as a colony of the Ligurian peoples of the Genuati and Sabazi in 317 BC, others hold it much older than Rome; it is however proved that settlements of Intemelii, Ingauni and Sabazi were present in Roman times and that the area was well defended by the ancient Ligurians thanks to its strategic position. The city was founded three times: the first on the summit of Monte Ursino, on which the castle of that name stands; the second in the area adjacent to the church of San Paragorio; the third within the present wall circuit., In the course of the thirteenth century Noli equipped itself with further fortifications and with more than seventy town towers, closing the borgo within a wall circuit; its political and military alignment with the cause of the Lombard League against Frederick II of Swabia favoured recognition by pope Gregory IX., The first structure of the castello di Monte Ursino was built from the twelfth century, as was the wall circuit connected to it in defence of the borgo; its present aspect and form are datable to the rebuilding of 1552, by captain Andrea da Bergamo and on the advice of the Republic of Genoa, above all in the adaptation of the towers and walls to the new instruments of warfare. The circular keep is enclosed by a polygonal enclosure of irregular form, with the remains of two visibly more recent towers. The same hill conserves ancient elements and constructions of the primitive settlement of Noli during the dominion of the Del Carretto family in the twelfth century., The church of San Paragorio at Noli is an important and historic site of Romanesque architecture, included in the list of Italian national monuments. The building is in Ligurian Romanesque style of the eleventh century, having arisen above a palaeochristian church -- finds from a necropolis were discovered in excavations by the Istituto internazionale di studi liguri under the direction of Nino Lamboglia in 1972 -- and it has a basilican plan of three naves, the crypt as an oratory, and a web of blind arches separated by thin pilaster strips, paired on the facade and in the major apse. Outside the central apse, between the arches and the pitch of the roof, are ceramic bacini in coloured ceramic used as decorative inserts, of Sicilian or North African provenance. On the left side are a double arcosolium tomb and a single one, all with pointed arches supported by columns; the single tomb has its arch made of alternating white and black stones, in typical Ligurian style, as is the pronaos over the side entrance. Inside are conserved on the high altar a contemporary wooden crucifix -- similar to the Volto Santo of Lucca and dating to the second half of the thirteenth century -- and a wooden cathedra of the thirteenth century, besides fine frescoes of the Trecento. It was declared a national monument on 28 December 1890, and following damage from an earthquake was restored at the end of the nineteenth century by Alfredo d'Andrade, who brought back to light its original aspect. It was the cathedral of Noli until 1572, when the title passed to the nearer and more central church of San Pietro., The concattedrale di San Pietro at Noli, in piazza della Cattedrale, is the seat of the parish of that name in the vicariate of Finale Ligure of the diocese of Savona-Noli. Locally it is also known as the chiesa di San Pietro dei Pescatori, a name originating in the tithes on the proceeds of fishing on feast days, collected in the thirteenth century for the construction of the first religious structure. Only in 1572, with the transfer of the title of cathedral from the church of San Paragorio, did the ancient appellation change into today's dedication to the apostle Peter; to that period belong the adjoining bell tower, the perimeter walls of the church and the internal pillars. The building was transformed from the second half of the sixteenth century. There are also a processional cross in silver of 1417 and the Pallio di Sant'Eugenio of the fifteenth century., The Palazzo del Comune of Noli, of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, was the seat of the consuls and of the government of the Republic of Noli; the building underwent various transformations between 1797 and 1820. On the facade towards the sea promenade are, besides the restored sundial, four ogival polifore, partly blind and partly of restoration; inside the Sala del Consiglio, of the seventeenth century, are conserved fragments of late-medieval fresco cycles coming from the porta di San Giovanni. The Loggia della Repubblica Nolese stands near the Palazzo del Comune and dates to the same period; some plaques under the loggia attest the passage of various personalities, among them Dante Alighieri, with the citation of Noli in the Purgatorio of the Divina Commedia, Cristoforo Colombo on 31 May 1476 departing for Portugal, and Giordano Bruno in 1576. A column there has a bugnato capital, an element typical of the end of the Trecento and the beginning of the Quattrocento., A noted bathing station of the Riviera di Ponente, Noli conserves the aspect of a seafaring borgo, characterised by narrow lanes (caruggi), many of them surmounted by supporting archetti. The comune has remained one of the few coastal borghi still to have local fishermen, who every night go out to sea with their small motorboats and return in the morning with the fish the gulf offers. Agricultural activity is based above all on the production of wine and olive oil; among the most prized wines is the Lumassina, produced in the valleys between Noli and Finale Ligure. Notable too is the production of cicciarelli, a fish-based dish which has obtained the recognition of a Slow Food Presidium. The comune has been included in the association I borghi piu belli d'Italia, and the locality has obtained from FEE-Italia the award of the Bandiera blu for the quality of its beaches., Noli is an Italian comune of the province of Savona in Liguria, situated on the coast of the Riviera di Ponente in an inlet closed to the east by the island of Bergeggi and to the south-west by the cape of the same name, at the mouth of the Luminella torrent; its frazioni are Tosse and Voze, it borders Finale Ligure, Spotorno and Vezzi Portio, its patron is sant'Eugenio kept on the second Sunday of July, and it is in seismic zone 3., The Republic of Noli was constituted on 7 August 1192 by decree of Henry VI of Swabia and ended on 2 December 1797 with the Italian campaign of Napoleon Bonaparte. It was a maritime republic under protectorate and an oligarchic republic, a protectorate and ally of the Republic of Genoa, having separated from the Del Carretto marquisate of Finale; its head of state was a Podesta and its deliberative organs the Consiglio dei Consoli e dei Capi di casa, and it achieved religious autonomy by obtaining a diocese of its own. Its maximum area was 4 square kilometres, with a population of 1,500 in the eighteenth century; its currency was Genoese, its resources commerce, fishing and olive growing, its productions glass and warships, and it traded with the Byzantine Empire, France, Spain and England, exporting spices, salt and glass. Its territory covered the comune of Noli and nearby possessions including Spotorno, often contested with Savona, Orco Feglino, Mallare, Vado and the island of Bergeggi., The definition "repubbliche marinare", born in the nineteenth century, generally refers to four Italian cities whose arms are reproduced on the ensign of the Marina Militare -- Amalfi, Genoa, Pisa and Venice -- but besides those four best known, Ancona, Gaeta, "la piccola Noli" and, in Dalmatia, Ragusa were also maritime republics, which at certain historical moments had an importance that was not secondary and in some cases comparable., Noli was an ancient centre of the Ligures and a municipium in Roman times; its name is cited in documents of 1004 and 1005 as Naboli, deriving probably from Neapolis, the Greek-Latin for "new city". Some sources would have it arise as a colony of the Ligurian peoples of the Genuati and Sabazi in 317 BC, others hold it much older than Rome; it is however proved that settlements of Intemelii, Ingauni and Sabazi were present in Roman times and that the area was well defended by the ancient Ligurians thanks to its strategic position. The city was founded three times: the first on the summit of Monte Ursino, on which the castle of that name stands; the second in the area adjacent to the church of San Paragorio; the third within the present wall circuit., A noted bathing station of the Riviera di Ponente, Noli conserves the aspect of a seafaring borgo, characterised by narrow lanes (caruggi), many of them surmounted by supporting archetti. The comune has remained one of the few coastal borghi still to have local fishermen, who every night go out to sea with their small motorboats and return in the morning with the fish the gulf offers. Agricultural activity is based above all on the production of wine and olive oil; among the most prized wines is the Lumassina, produced in the valleys between Noli and Finale Ligure. Notable too is the production of cicciarelli, a fish-based dish which has obtained the recognition of a Slow Food Presidium. The comune has been included in the association I borghi piu belli d'Italia, and the locality has obtained from FEE-Italia the award of the Bandiera blu for the quality of its beaches. (ottobre 2026).
Verificato su I borghi più belli d'Italia — I borghi piu belli d'Italia gives Noli 2,950 inhabitants with 300 in the borgo itself and an altitude of 2 m above sea level; it records sant'Eugenio as the patron bishop coming from Africa, buried on the islet of Bergeggi in 505 and then translated to Noli in 1192, celebrated on the second Sunday of July; it dates the establishment of the free comune to 1192, marked by a traditional ceremony at the church of San Paragorio on 7 August, and says that by 1202 Noli had become a maritime republic through alliance with Genoa. It names among the medieval towers the thirteenth-century Torre del Comune and Torre della Marina, noting their bold profile and the reddish tone of the brick, calls San Paragorio one of the most important monuments of the region, and gives the tourist office as Via Anton da Noli, telephone 019 748384. (ottobre 2026).