The name comes from the Latin Servo ("I offer services ") written on the signs of the original Roman mansio that was on the Via Julia Augusta, at the site of the present-day village.
In the late 1500s, with the switch from Latin to the vulgar, the original "Servo" became "Cervo".
History • 181 BC: the Roman legions conquer Liguria, leading to the development of the Via Julia Augusta (the present day Via Aurelia). Thanks to its elevated position and the presence of a number of springs and a small natural port, the hill on which Cervo would later be built was chosen as the site for a mansio. • ca 950-1000: the castrum Cervi is a fortress and fief of the Clavesana marquises and in the 9th century it is already surrounded by defense walls. • 1204: Cervo proclaimed itself a free commune, placing itself under the protection of the Republic of Genoa. • 1330: Genoa assigns Cervo in fief to the Knights of Malta, who sell it the following year to the marquis Lazzaro Doria. Conquered by the marquis Enrico Del Carretto, a descendent of the Clavesanas, not until 1384 would Cervo return to Genoa, to which it would always remain loyal, such that in 1425 it obtains the right to directly elect its own podestà. • 16th cent.: Cervo suffers the nightmare of the Turks, both on land, never sufficiently protected against the sudden landings of the Saracen marauders, and on the open sea, where its irresistible sailing spirit led it to send its fragile "coralline" (coral fishing boats) between Corsica and Sardinia, with their precious cargos that attracted pirates. Only after the battle of Lepanto in 1571 did the Saracen danger become less threatening. Thus began Cervo's golden age, which grew wealthy with coral fishing and the olive oil trade. • 1815: the Congress of Vienna assigns Liguria to the Savoys.
The church that came from the sea
A tour begins with Salita Gramsci, at the Porta Marina della Montà, which until the end of the 18th century marked the southern boundary of the Castle walls.
The Palazzo del Cinquecento above the low, narrow porticos echoes the Genoese architecture of the time.
Going up into the village, one comes to Palazzo Morchio, now the town hall, which belonged to Tommaso Morchio, the admiral in command of ten Genoese galleys, who in 1371 conquered the island of Malta and the city of Mazara in Sicily for the Republic of Genoa. It is from the late 17th century with a slate portal in the Genoese style. Where the road levels off, one enters inside the walls and then continues rising, turning right and leaving the Via Romana.
Moving ahead, one comes to the imposing walls which once were the bastions of the Castle in the 15th-16th centuries.
Standing on the square is the majestic Baroque Church of San Giovanni Battista, also known as the church of the "Corallini" because it was built from the proceeds of the companies that fished for coral in the seas of Corsica and Sardinia. Actually, offerings for the building came from the all of the townsfolk - fishers and sailors, ship owners, property owners, olive oil merchants, artisans - who also helped to haul up from the beach, on their shoulders, the art works and precious marbles arriving by sea.
The original concave façade overlooks a wide stretch of sea, creating an extraordinary scenic effect. At night the church's bell tower seems to be a lighthouse for indicating a landing for sailors.
The church was begun in 1686 and finished in 1734 by the son of the architect Giobatta Marvaldi, who designed the building and who died in 1706 while work was still in progress.
The construction of the elegant bell tower, designed by the painter Francesco Carrega, instead lasted thirty years (1758-1778). Once inside the church, a Latin inscription reads: "Come from the sea / risen on this spot." The coral fishers did things in a big way: the church has a splendid high altar by Pittaluga, with its tabernacle by the Lombard school of the early 16th century and a beautiful white marble pulpit with a bas-relief of the Pietà (16th cent.), a carved wooden choir behind the high altar, frescoes by Carrega over the choir, and the wooden crucifix above the high altar, a masterpiece carved by Maragliano.
Leaving the church of the Corallini, one goes up the steps to the right leading to Via Grimaldi-Salineri, upon which stand houses with Gothic or round arches embellishing their entrances.
The entire area has preserved its medieval character. Shortly thereafter one comes to Piazza Santa Caterina, standing before the Castle built by the Clavesana marquises as their residence, providing it with three round towers and incorporating the original medieval tower that watched over the Via Julia Augusta. In the 17th century the structure was gutted and divided into two parts: the upper part, with a single vault, holds a fresco of St. Catherine, and the lower part, made smaller, was used as a hospital and today is the home of the Ethnographic Museum.
Outside of Porta Bondai there is a beautiful view of the Cervo and Diano valleys. The church on a hill down below is the old parish church dedicated to St. George of Cappadocia, whom the sailors had begun to worship in the East during the time of the Crusades. It was abandoned in the mid-15th century because it was exposed to the attacks of the Berbers. It retains something of the Moresque in its design.
Reentering the city walls through Porta Bondai, one follows Via Balleydier down to the Palazzo Balleydier, a handsome 18th-century building with frescoes by Carrega.
Reaching the point where the street levels off - called Via Romana because the Via Aurelia passed here - one soon comes to the Oratory of Santa Caterina, which is suffocated on all sides by buildings that were built practically on top of one another during medieval times, both because of a lack of space and for defense reasons. Built in exposed stone in the 12th-13th century, it is a classic example of a Romanesque structure originally with a Latin cross plan.
Many palazzi, or manor-houses, bear witness to the past wealth of the town's residents and inspire one to wander through the streets gazing upwards: Palazzo della Meridiana, Palazzo della Merla, and the 18th-century Palazzo Viale, Palazzo De Simoni, Palazzo Alassio and Palazzo Arimondo.
But above all it is the village as a whole that is most exciting: the play of light and shadow in the narrow streets, the high arches, the breathtaking rise and fall of the streets, the harmonies of pines and olives in the background, the cliff washed by the crystal clear sea, the blossoming almonds, the fragrance of thyme.
Local Products
The king of Cervo is extra virgin olive oil and related products: Taggiasca olives, olive pâté.
The olives come from the groves on the hills behind the village.
A variety imported from Candia provides the grapes used to make Fermenting white wine.
The Name
