Holiday apartment in Cicagna: Discover slate culture and tradition

Cicagna combines slate culture, historic buildings, religious traditions, and distinctive festivals to create a diverse travel destination.

Slate, craftsmanship, and exhibitions

The Museo dell'Ardesia di Cicagna provides an overview of the world of slate. Through images and tools, it reconstructs a workshop and a quarry setting. The museum is also part of an itinerary that, together with various institutions and museums, explores the characteristics of slate and its production. In Cicagna, there are artisanal and industrial workshops that extract, process, and export slate worldwide. This makes the material visible not only as an exhibition topic, but also as part of the local craft tradition.

Villa Cavagnari is also connected with this history. It is an example of 19th-century local architecture and features typical decorative elements of the Ligurian architecture of that period. The villa was intended to house the slate museum and the archaeological museum of Cicagna; exhibitions of various kinds are also held there.

Architecture, art, and notable places

Frescoes characterize the interiors and exteriors of houses throughout almost the entire historic center of Cicagna. Two slate bas-reliefs by Vittorio “Tollo” Mazzola are located in the council chamber of the Municipality of Cicagna and in the atrium of the “A.P. Giannini” school. Mazzola also created the Stations of the Cross in the Santuario di N.S. dei Miracoli pilgrimage church in Cicagna.

Casa Cavagnari is a building dating from 1800 with interior murals and an adjoining municipal park, which is also intended to serve as a children's playground. Villa Cavagnari and Casa Cavagnari thus add different accents to the townscape.

Another distinctive feature is Ponte della Vittoria: the arch bridge is also a war memorial in Cicagna. The Lavagna torrent divides Cicagna into two separate districts.

Music and locally rooted festivals

The piffero appenninico, or Apennine shawm, is considered Cicagna's historic principal instrument. Accompanied by the accordion and, in earlier times, also by the Apennine bagpipe known as the müsa, it provided music for dancing and enlivened the festivals of the time. Nicolò Bacigalupo created the piffero di Cicagna.

The Festa Nostra Signora dei Miracoli in Cicagna is a religious celebration featuring Vespers singing, a procession, fireworks, and food stalls. It is connected with a tradition concerning a Marian miracle dating from 1537. The Sagra della Castagna is a traditional annual festival held in October, where visitors can sample local specialties featuring chestnuts.

Theater and cycling route

Il Teatro della Val Fontabuona has an auditorium with 336 seats. Near Cicagna, there is also access to a footbridge on the Ciclovia dell'Ardesia.

Other places to include in your travel plans

If you would like to include other places in your travel plans in addition to Cicagna, also discover Comeglio, Casella, Casà, Moneglia, Gorreto, Campo Ligure, Neirone, and Portofino.

For the higher-level travel overview: Genoa.