Duomo di San Giovanni Battista

The Duomo di San Giovanni Battista dominates Loano's skyline with its outsized baroque dome, a cathedral far grander than you'd expect in a town of barely 10,000 people. The interior is cool and dim, with painted vaults and an assortment of artworks accumulated over several centuries of patronage from the Doria family and later Genoese nobility.

The facade faces the main piazza and the sea beyond. Step inside in the early morning before the beach crowds wake up and you may have the place largely to yourself.

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A story
The dome of this cathedral — "Il Cupolone" to locals — was completed in the 18th century and became such an outsized landmark for the small town that sailors used it to take bearings when approaching the coast. The cupola is visible from several kilometres out to sea, which partly explains why it was built to such ambitious proportions for a town of this size.