Collegiate Church of Sant'Ambrogio

The collegiate church of Sant'Ambrogio is Varazze's principal monument, standing on the square of the same name in the historic centre. The church was built in 1535, incorporating an older Romanesque-Gothic campanile from the 14th century. The tower, with its three tiers of triple-arched windows, is the finest architectural element in town and gives the square its character.

The interior is Baroque with some earlier elements, including a polyptych altarpiece from the 15th century. The church is dedicated to Sant'Ambrogio (Saint Ambrose), the bishop of Milan who is one of the four original Doctors of the Church. Varazze was an important stopping point on medieval pilgrimage routes along the Ligurian coast, and the church's significance was greater then than its current modest profile suggests.

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The Romanesque campanile of Sant'Ambrogio is older than the church it stands next to. Built in the 14th century as part of a predecessor building, the tower survived when the present church was constructed in 1535 and has been absorbing the sea air ever since. The three tiers of triple-arched windows — a Ligurian Romanesque motif — are carved from local stone, and the salt wind has softened their edges over seven centuries into something that looks almost hand-modelled.