Sanremo's Russian Orthodox church — the Chiesa Russa — stands on the western side of town near the Passeggiata dell'Imperatrice, a vivid reminder of the city's 19th-century Russian colony. The church was built in 1913 in the Russian Byzantine style, with onion domes and coloured tilework that look dramatically out of place against the Ligurian townscape.
The interior, when open, contains Orthodox icons, gold-leaf decoration, and a carved wooden iconostasis. The church is still consecrated and holds occasional services. Even if you cannot enter, the exterior is striking and easy to reach on a walk along the western seafront. The small cemetery beside it contains the graves of Russian expatriates who wintered here in the Belle Époque era, including minor nobility who never made it home after 1917.