Tellaro

Legend says a giant octopus once saved this fishing village by climbing the church tower and ringing the bell as Saracen pirates landed. Tellaro sits on a cliff on the eastern shore of the Gulf of La Spezia, reached by a single road high above the sea, and has long drawn painters and writers, Mario Soldati among them. At Christmas, divers carry the baby Jesus out of the water.

Highlights

• The underwater Christmas, with divers, over 8,000 candles and fireworks over the sea
• The Church of San Giorgio, with a plaque recalling the octopus
• The Festival of the Octopus, on the second Sunday of August
• The 17th-century Oratory of Santa Maria and the little harbour
• The Palio del Golfo boat race, which Tellaro enters every year

Summary based on Wikipedia and Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA), written with AI assistance.