Holiday apartment in Testana: church, retablo and trails

Testana combines a distinctive hillside location with art, history and trails through the Ligurian landscape. Testana Chiesa lies halfway up the hillside on the left side of the Rio Arbora, a tributary of the Recco. The surrounding area features olive groves with views of the sea.

Church and art as special points of interest

The Church of Santa Margherita Vergine e Martire in Testana was built in the 17th century. Its history, however, reaches back to an older chapel on the slopes of Monte Cornua. The Church of Santa Margherita houses a wooden high relief depicting the story of the Crucifixion of Christ, attributed to a Flemish school of art from the 16th century. It also contains a painting of the Circumcision of Christ by Giovanni Andrea De Ferrari.

The Retablo di Testana is also part of Testana’s cultural identity. It is dated to the period between 1510 and 1515 and depicts scenes from the Passion. The Retablo di Testana is considered emblematic of the presence of Northern European wooden works of art in the Ligurian area. In addition, the Testana T1 archaeological site points to a rural settlement from Late Antiquity. In 1972, fragments were recovered at three sites located close to one another between the church of Testana and Monte San Pietro.

The Festa di Santa Margherita d’Antiochia in Testana also belongs in this context: it is connected with the local festivals of Avegno. This creates a destination for you whose cultural themes range from sacred art and archaeological traces to local festivals. The individual highlights can easily be arranged according to personal interests, rather than filling the days with a uniform programme.

Olive groves, dry-stone walls and trails

Those who would like to explore the area on foot will find a direct connection to the landscape on the route from Molino Nuovo to Testana. It follows trails between olive trees and dry-stone walls. Together with the surrounding olive groves and their sea views, this creates a vivid setting for a trip in which activity and landscape stand on an equal footing with culture.

For cycling tours, a documented mountain bike route leads through Testana and reaches the ridge of Monte Cornua via a rideable but very steep mulattiera. The pronounced incline is an important contrast to the more leisurely exploration of the church, art and landscape. If you plan your days with variety, you can consciously consider these two ways of experiencing Testana separately.

Choose a holiday apartment in Testana according to your interests

When choosing a holiday apartment in Testana, you can incorporate cultural themes, trails through the olive landscape and cycling tours into your personal plans. Those interested in culture can focus on Santa Margherita, the Retablo di Testana and the archaeological site. Those who prefer trails and landscapes can pay attention to the route between Molino Nuovo and Testana, the olive trees, dry-stone walls and the sea views. For cycling tours, the very steep mulattiera on Monte Cornua is the defining section of the route. This allows you to align your accommodation choice with your preferred mix of discovery, activity and relaxing impressions of the landscape.

For arrival, bus route 872 connects Recco, Testana and Serro. Depending on whether you want to focus on cultural themes, trails through the olive landscape or a mountain bike tour, you can incorporate these topics into your personal travel plans.

More places to discover

Other destinations in the surrounding area: Nervi, Busalla, Roverazza, Gaiazza, Mele, Favale Di Malvaro, Nascio, Savignone

To the higher-level travel overview: Genoa.