This private shore trip allows visitors to explore Savona and nearby Albisola, an area that produced two of the most influential popes of the Italian Renaissance. You visit the "Little Sistine Chapel," enjoy a walking tour of the medieval old town, and visit a local pottery workshop in Albisola.
After meeting your guide, you drive to nearby Albisola, one of Italy's most prestigious ceramics towns, with pottery production dating to the late 15th century and a major flourishing in the 16th century, when its workshops became known across Italy for majolica tiles and glazed ceramics. You visit a working pottery studio to see artisans at the potter's wheel, along with the baking and decoration phases of these handcrafted pieces.
Next you return to Savona. The area produced two of the most important popes of the Italian Renaissance: Sixtus IV, born nearby in 1414, who ordered the famous Sistine Chapel in Rome to be built, and his nephew Giuliano della Rovere, born in Albisola in 1443, who became Pope Julius II and was Michelangelo's patron. A third pope connected to Savona, Pius VII, was held prisoner by Napoleon in the city's Bishop's Palace from August 1809 until June 1812, before being moved on to Fontainebleau near Paris until his release in 1814.
During your tour you visit the medieval heart of Savona, including Via Pia, a street lined with the palaces of rich merchants and the aristocracy. Your guide points out the fine portals and loggias of these palaces, built of black slate. A highlight for many visitors is the Cathedral, where you see the choir commissioned by Julius II at the start of the 16th century. A 19th century cloister connects the cathedral to the Little Sistine Chapel, built between 1480 and 1483 by Pope Sixtus IV as a mausoleum for his parents, Leonardo della Rovere and Luchina Monleone.
During your walking tour you also have the chance to taste some Savonese specialties, such as chinotti, candied oranges preserved in maraschino liquor, and amaretti, cakes made with bitter and sweet almonds. If time allows, you enjoy a short amount of free time before returning to the pier.
Review Location- Savona 
