Madonna della Costa

Madonna della Costa is a Catholic sanctuary on Sanremo’s scarpéta hill, rising above the Ligurian coast and sea. Its history reaches back to the fourteenth century.

Local devotion first centred on an oratory, while later generations shaped the sanctuary as a landmark for sailors. A cypress-lined ramp leads towards the upper church.

Its pebble-mosaic churchyard includes the coat of arms of Genoa, created in the Ligurian style. The façade has pilasters, a curved pediment, and small domed bell towers.

Inside, a light Baroque hall opens onto curved chapels, a marble high altar, and a prominent dome with large windows. The sanctuary’s dome rises high above the city.

The high altar combines polychrome marble and porphyry with a wooden group by Anton Maria Maragliano. A Madonna and Child painting anchors the sanctuary’s older artistic history.

The work belongs to a fourteenth-century altarpiece fragment attributed to Fra’ Nicolò da Voltri. Religious celebrations and maritime traditions connect this hilltop sanctuary with Sanremo’s history.