Chiesa della Madonna della Costa

On the hill where Levanto first grew, the deconsecrated church of the Madonna della Costa preserves a marble relief of Saint George associated with the Da Passano family. An inscription records a consecration in 1334.

Why it matters

Long before the seafront defined Levanto, the settlement clustered on the hill of the Costa, and this church was its spiritual centre. Tradition places the building earlier than the parish church of Sant'Andrea, perhaps in the twelfth century; the state heritage catalogue dates it broadly between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries. A nineteenth-century transcription preserves an inscription recording its consecration in 1334, likely connected with work on an already existing structure. After centuries as a prevostura and then an abbey of the Da Passano family, it was deconsecrated and passed into private ownership, preserving a record of the borgo's earliest phase.

What to notice

A marble bas-relief above the facade depicts Saint George and the dragon. Attributed to Giovanni Gaggini or his workshop, it bears the arms of the Da Passano family, which held the church from 1528 and elevated it to an abbey in perpetuo in 1663. The interior preserves frescoes from 1753 depicting scenes from the life of the Virgin, commissioned by abbot Alberto Scanio.

Context and history

The church's formal title is Santa Maria Assunta della Costa. Until January 1528 it belonged to the Comunità del Borgo di Levanto, when it was ceded to Giovanni Gioacchino Da Passano. In 1640 it was raised from a simple church to a prevostura, and in 1663 Giò Maria Da Passano obtained the title of abbey in perpetuo. The eighteenth century brought the fresco cycle of 1753. Suppressed and later deconsecrated, the building passed into private ownership; the heritage catalogue records it as a private church of local workshops, protected by the Liguria Soprintendenza. A 2024 conservative restoration was followed by a municipal inauguration.