Visiting Savona, Italy: Top Sights on Foot

The best things to do in Savona combine fortresses, churches, museums and historic streets with the atmosphere of a working Ligurian port. The city’s landmarks reveal its religious and artistic heritage, while its hilltop military sites and old dock area show how closely Savona has always been connected to the sea. Neywo offers a free audio guide for Savona with 83 narrated places.

What to See in Savona

Forte Madonna del Monte

Forte Madonna del Monte, also known as Forte di Madonna del Monte, stands on a hill just behind the Savona-Vado motorway toll gate. Built in the nineteenth century, the well-preserved fortress rises 135 metres above sea level and has a strong presence above the city.

Savona Cathedral and the Duomo complex

In the historic centre, Savona Cathedral—also called the Cathedral of the Assumption or Duomo di Savona—is the city’s principal place of worship and the religious and historical heart of Savona. It forms part of the Duomo monumental complex, alongside the Sistine Chapel, the Treasure Museum and the apartment of Pope Pius the Seventh.

The cathedral was built on the site of a thirteenth-century Franciscan complex before being transformed into a Baroque building. Its interior combines different periods: Michele Canzio, Giuseppe Bozzano and Francesco Coghetti decorated the vaults and pillars between 1848 and 1851, while the side chapels preserve seventeenth- and eighteenth-century decoration. The central nave and two aisles create an open but solemn layout, and the wooden choir stalls in the presbytery are a notable Renaissance feature.

Sistine Chapel

Savona’s Sistine Chapel forms part of the cathedral complex and connects the city with the Della Rovere family’s papal history. It is one of the places to include when exploring the religious and artistic heritage of the old centre.

Priamar Fortress and the Archaeological Museum of Savona

Priamar Fortress is one of Savona’s major historic sites. The Archaeological Museum of Savona, or Museo Storico Archeologico di Savona, occupies rooms on the ground and first floors of the Palazzo della Loggia inside the fortress.

The museum opened in 1990 and presents evidence from Savona’s past. Excavations at the Palazzo della Loggia have contributed important information about the rocky Priamar promontory, where the ancient city once stood. The fortress therefore provides both a military landmark and a setting closely connected with archaeological research.

Torre Leon Pancaldo

Torre Leon Pancaldo adds a historic maritime landmark to Savona’s waterfront. It is one of the stops that connects the city’s fortifications and port with its long relationship to the sea.

Museo d’Arte di Palazzo Gavotti

The Museo d’Arte di Palazzo Gavotti brings several collections together in a historic palace in the heart of the old town. It includes the Civic Art Gallery, the Milena Milani Foundation collection of contemporary art and the Museum of Ceramics.

Palazzo Gavotti stands in Piazza Chabrol and was once Savona’s town government. Its foundations reach back to medieval structures, while nineteenth-century alterations created the refined interiors used by the gallery today. The exhibitions extend across two floors, with particular importance given to the Renaissance collection. Among its highlights is Donato de’ Bardi’s Crucifixion, a fifteenth-century painting that brings Flemish Ars Nova and Italian artistic traditions together. At the entrance, visitors can also see a polychrome wooden Crucifix and a marble relief of the Madonna and Child.

All About Apple Museum

In Savona’s old dock area, at Piazza De André, the All About Apple Museum explores Apple’s history and production. Its permanent exhibition contains practically the entire range of Apple personal computers, peripherals, accessories and prototypes. The collection spans the company’s history from its beginnings in 1976 to the present day and is described as the most comprehensive collection in the world on this subject.

Palazzo Pavese Del Carretto Pozzobonelli and the Pinacoteca Civica

Palazzo Pavese Del Carretto Pozzobonelli is connected with the Pinacoteca Civica di Savona, also known as the Pinacoteca Civica. Together, the palace and art museum offer another way to explore Savona’s artistic heritage in the historic city.

Casa di Colombo

Casa di Colombo presents the story of Christopher Columbus through the question of where he truly lived. His youth was divided between Genoa, Savona and Cogoleto because of his father Domenico Colombo’s movements. Later, Columbus lived in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the Americas and Spain, where he died in Valladolid.

His commercial voyages and explorations meant that many of his residences were temporary places, including inns, huts or other people’s homes. The site therefore tells a story of movement rather than identifying one single home as the defining residence of his life.

San Giacomo

The former church and convent of San Giacomo stand on the hill of the same name, overlooking Savona’s city centre and port. Also known as Chiesa San Giacomo or the ruins of San Giacomo, the surviving complex preserves the memory of its religious past. Today, the group of buildings is used for civil purposes.

Antico Teatro Sacco

Antico Teatro Sacco occupies Palazzo Sacco in Savona’s historic centre. It is one of the oldest theatres still in operation in Liguria, making it a distinctive cultural landmark among the city’s historic buildings.

Maria Ausiliatrice

The church of Maria Ausiliatrice, also known as Santa Maria Ausiliatrice, stands on Via San Giovanni Bosco in Savona’s wider urban area. It offers a further stop for those exploring the city beyond the historic centre.

Other landmarks and monasteries

Savona’s streets also lead to smaller historic sites, including the Monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi, created by Leonardo Bistolfi, and the Convento delle Suore della Purificazione di Maria Santissima. Santa Teresa, or the Monastery of Santa Teresa, stands on Via Firenze on a hill behind the Villapiana district.

The city’s position on the Italian Riviera places it within the wider coastal landscape of the Ligurian Sea. The Riviera di Ponente extends west from Genoa Voltri towards the Monegasque border, while the Riviera di Levante continues east from Genoa Voltri to the Gulf of La Spezia.

Explore Savona with Neywo

Neywo’s Savona audio guide includes 3 walking tours and 1 bus route, covering 83 narrated places in total. The walks include:

• Savona of the Two Popes: Della Rovere Palaces and the Duomo — 1.33 km, 76 minutes and 11 stops
• Fortress, Harbour and Art Nouveau Spheres — 2.74 km, 92 minutes and 11 stops
• Nineteenth-Century Savona: Corso Italia, Via Paleocapa and the Civic Palaces — 2.06 km, 84 minutes and 11 stops

The bus route is:

• Bus 6: From Zinola and Legino to Savona’s Art Nouveau Centre — 12.1 km, 52 minutes and 9 stops

Download Neywo and explore Savona with the story of each place playing as you reach it, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule. Narration is available in 11 languages. Savona is also a natural starting point for discovering Genoa, La Spezia and other destinations in Liguria.