San Rocco e Punta Chiappa

The hamlet of San Rocco and Punta Chiappa form a striking transition from Camogli's hillside settlement to the rocky coast of the Portofino promontory.

Why it matters

San Rocco and Punta Chiappa link Camogli's hillside settlement and seafaring history with the landscape of the Portofino promontory. The hamlet of San Rocco occupies the upper slope, with its churchyard overlooking the Riviera di Levante, the gulf and the bay of San Fruttuoso. Below it, Punta Chiappa is a rocky point with flat stone shelves meeting the water, preserving its character as a coastal outcrop rather than a built-up resort.

What to notice

San Rocco's parish church occupies a much older sacred site. The diocesan annuario records the parish's establishment in 1863, rebuilding in the 1930s and consecration in 1963. San Nicolò di Capodimonte, on the historic path toward the coast, is a medieval abbey church described by the local protection association as one of Liguria's oldest surviving religious houses. The church reflects the promontory's medieval monastic history. At Punta Chiappa, flat rock shelves meet the water below the Portofino promontory, with the bay of San Fruttuoso across the gulf.

Context and history

An old path once connected the hill parish with the sea as part of the Portofino promontory's network used by shepherds, farmers and coastguards. San Rocco grew as Camogli's "monte" — the upper settlement where families escaped the humidity of the shore — and its church served a dispersed mountain community until the parish was formally erected in 1863. San Nicolò di Capodimonte preserves the medieval layer of the story, standing above the water where the promontory's oldest monastic presence is remembered. In recent decades the Comunità di Punta Chiappa, a residents' and supporters' association, has worked to protect the hamlet, the mill quarter and the point itself. The surrounding waters are part of the Portofino marine protected area.