Varese Ligure is a town in the Vara Valley well known as Organic Valley, due to the care farmers have when using fertilizers, organic products and non-toxic pesticides. Often the valley is called “Valley of the round villages” for the circular structure of some villages. The colors, the nature, small towns, are the beauty of this valley, the largest of the Province and Liguria. The river Vara, from which the valley takes its name, is the longest of Liguria. Many canoeing lovers and rafting lovers come every year along its banks to cross the stretch between Varese Ligure and Brugnato.
The valley had a strategic importance, since it was a necessary step to reach the valley of Sestri Levante , Parma and Emilia and Pontremoli . Ancient civilization, tied to the land and its products, for centuries remained closed within its borders and clinging to its traditions. And even now it is a territory rich in history, culture, folklore, traditions which, fortunately, over the centuries have been handed down and not abandoned.
In Varese Ligure a walking trail allows you to enjoy the full capabilities of the “Borgo Rotondo”, because of its circular structure, almost elliptical, common to some countries of the Valley. It strikes our attention the square and the houses, colorful, alongside one another, with the typical arcades, where in ancient times there were shops and home to a vibrant business. Further on lies the castle of the Fieschi, the famous Counts of Lavagna, and the church of San Filippo Blacks and St. Teresa of Avila. We cannot end our visit without a little taste of the local specialties: the croissants (a type of durum wheat pasta) dried mushrooms, sweet chestnut flour and sweets made of almond paste, called “sciuette”.
Brugnato is the second most important town of the Vara Valley. It was the seat of the Diocese and for its strategic importance it has been ruled by important families including the Fieschi and Malaspina. As for Varese, the ancient village has a round structure that ends with a “pincer”. In the center of the town lies the Cathedral of Saints Peter, Lorenzo and Colombian. Closeby there is the former Bishop’s Palace, now home to the Diocesan Museum. Speaking of Brugnato you cannot forget the great event which is celebrated every year on the CORPUS CHRISTI day. The inhabitants are engaged, already early in the morning, to draw on the floor, along the main street that runs through the village, beautiful religious symbols and images, which are then decorated and filled with thousands of multicolored petals that turn the country into a beautiful and colorful flowered carpet . The typical product is the “scallop” or “canestrello”. Not to be missed a visit of the Cathedral. Interesting for groups or small parties is a visit to the dairy farm that produces, continuously for more than fifty years a wide variety ofcheeses, ricotta, scamorza and mozzarella appreciated throughout Liguria.
Varese Ligure & Brugnato
