Noli Ligure
Noli Ligure
THE STORY AND WHAT TO VISIT
NOLI LIGURE
Noli (Nöi in Ligurian) is a town in the province of Savona in Liguria.
From 1192 to 1797 it was the capital of the republic of the same name which, although linked to the fate of the Republic of Genoa and other local power centers, enjoyed at times a certain formal independence.
Ancient center of the Ligurians, it was a town hall in Roman times. Its name, mentioned in some documents of 1004 and 1005 with the name of Naboli, probably derives from Neapolis, a Greek-Latin derivation of “new city”.
What to visit in Noli Ligure
The co-cathedral of San Pietro
The concathedral of San Pietro is a Catholic place of worship located in the municipality of Noli, in the Cathedral square, in the province of Savona. The church is the seat of the parish of the same name which is part of the vicariate of Finale Ligure-Noli of the diocese of Savona-Noli.
In Noli it is also known as the church of San Pietro dei Pescatori, a denomination that originates from the tithes of the proceeds from fishing on holidays 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 name change into today’s title to the apostle Peter.
The Civil Architectures in Noli
- Palazzo del Comune of the 14th-15th century. Seat of the consuls and of the government of the Republic of Noli, the palace underwent various transformations between 1797 and 1820. On the façade towards the sea promenade there are, in addition to the restored sundial, four ogival multi-lancet windows, partly blind and partly restored. Inside the Sala del Consiglio, from the 17th century, are preserved fragments of fresco cycles from the late Middle Ages, coming from the Porta di San Giovanni.
- Loggia della Repubblica Nolese, close to the Palazzo del Comune and dating back to the same period.
- Palazzo Viale-Salvarezza. The seventeenth-century building, recast between pre-existing medieval buildings, was built around the 12th-century tower of the Marina and another smaller one. The palace was commissioned by the senator of the Republic of Genoa Antonio Viale, sent to the Noli republic by the Doge Giovanni Battista Lercari in 1643 to put an end to the conspiracy of some inhabitants who would have handed Noli into the hands of the Duke of Savoy.
- Palazzo Vescovile. Little is left and little is the historical knowledge on the primitive layout of the building; the sources, however, mention the presence of a prison and a chapel intended for the clergy. Adjacent to the palace is the church of Nostra Signora delle Grazie.
- Loggia della Repubblica.Coeval of the town hall, with the ancient cobblestones still maintained today, it consists of two large brick arches resting on an octagonal-shaped column with an ashlar capital, a typical element of the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. Some tombstones under the loggia testify to the passage of the various personalities, including Dante Alighieri, with mention of Noli in the Purgatory of the Divine Comedy, Cristoforo Colombo on May 31, 1476 leaving for Portugal and Giordano Bruno in 1576.
- Torre del Comune.Built at the end of the 13th century, it is adjacent to the town hall.
- Torre e Porta Papona of the XIII-XIV century. Built outside the ancient walls of the village and connected, with a brick arch, to the walkway that descends from the castle of Monte Ursino, the building was over the centuries a depot of arms and ammunition of the Republic. It has mullioned windows and single mullioned windows in the Gothic style.
- Torre del Canto o dei Quattro Canti. The high tower is trapezoidal in shape with a compact shaft and with sparse Romanesque-style openings in the lower part.
- Porta di Piazza. It was the main and central access to the village, defended by the second walls of the 12th and 13th centuries. In the second half of the sixteenth century the gate was equipped with a “ravelin”, a defensive bulwark that remained active until the nineteenth century. The fresco, visible from the sea side, depicts the Assumption and was repainted in 1927.
- Ponte Vecchio. The ancient bridge, overhanging the dry stream, followed the ancient road layout of the Napoleonic era; it retains, despite the numerous consolidation interventions, structural elements and medieval style appearance.
