Bay of Silence - Setri Levante

The territory of Sestri Levante is located in the Riviera di Levante east of Genoa and marks the eastern border of the Gulf of Tigullio (which extends from its peninsula to the promontory of Portofino).

The town stands on the alluvial plain of the Gromolo torrent, close to a peninsula, which was called an "island" since the Middle Ages. Today the ancient island is joined to the mainland by a sandy isthmus, which divides the Baia di Ponente called "Baia delle Favole" (where there is a small tourist port and whose name is believed to have been attributed to it by the writer Hans Christian Andersen), from the smaller and more suggestive Baia di Levante, known today as the "Bay of Silence". The historic center develops between the two bays and the isthmus, while the more recent urban development occupies the entire alluvial plain behind it. The town therefore extends between the sea and the hills of the hinterland and is separated to the north by the Graveglia valley with Mont Blanc of 876 m, to the north-east by the Petronio valley with the Caddio mountain (390 m), the Bomba mountain ( 608 m) and Mount Incisa (700 m). Towards the west, the suggestive Rocche di Sant'Anna separate it from the territory of the Municipality of Lavagna with a panoramic ridge overlooking the Gulf of Tigullio, with views up to the Costello (498 m), Zucchetto (614 m) and Capenardo (693 m) mountains and on all the towns facing the gulf.

Sestri Levante is separated to the east from the hamlet of Riva Trigoso by the promontory of Punta Manara and Monte Castello, another ancient island joined to the mainland by the alluvial deposits of the Gromolo and Petronio streams. The beach of the small seaside village (also characterized by a modern urban development in the alluvial plain behind it) continues up to Borgo Renà, where there is the characteristic rock of the "Assêu", surmounted by a cross. Continuing towards the east, there is Punta Baffe and Monte Moneglia (521 m), followed by the bay of Vallegrande and the bordering territory of Moneglia.