The Colonia Fara is a large abandoned building on the seafront northeast of Chiavari's centre, one of the most striking examples of rationalist fascist-era architecture on the Ligurian coast. Built in the 1930s as a summer camp for children of military families, it operated until the postwar period before gradually falling into disuse. The building is now derelict and officially closed, but its imposing mass and seafront position make it impossible to miss.
The colonìa buildings were a distinctive feature of Italian fascism's welfare architecture — factories of forced outdoor recreation for working-class children, typically located on the sea or in the mountains. The Colonia Fara is larger than most, with a long colonnaded facade facing the Ligurian Sea. Its state of abandonment has given it a different, melancholy interest — plans for restoration and repurposing have circulated for years without resolution.