Savona's Darsena: Sculptures, History, and Port Life

The beating heart of the Savona waterfront

There's a place in Savona where the city slows down, where you sit on the water's edge and watch the boats pass by. It's the Darsena—the redeveloped marina that in recent years has become one of the city's liveliest gathering places, attracting both locals and passing tourists. But the Darsena isn't just waterfront tables and docked boats: it's also a place of history, art, and memory, where three sculptures and a medieval tower tell the story of centuries of Savona's port life.

The Leon Pancaldo Tower: the port's flagship

A tower named after a navigator

Standing watch over the scene is the medieval turret, the Leon Pancaldo Tower, an undisputed symbol of Savona. Once an integral part of the city's defensive walls, it now houses the headquarters of the National Association of Italian Sailors and preserves precious relics of the Italian Navy.

Leon Pancaldo was a sixteenth-century navigator from Savona, Magellan's companion on the first voyage around the world, completed in 1522—one of those extraordinary figures whom history has partly forgotten, but whom Savona proudly remembers by naming this tower after him, which has overlooked the port for centuries.

The swing bridge

Next to the tower is one of the most curious elements of the Savona waterfront: the swing bridge , which when it opens to allow the passage of boats offers an always interesting spectacle to observe — one of those urban mechanisms that children (and not only) never tire of looking at.

The Sleeping Mermaid: The Work That Few Notice

Among the sculptures that adorn the harbor is the Sleeping Mermaid, a bronze work often overlooked by passersby. This is its most fascinating feature: it isn't perched on a monumental pedestal, it isn't marked by tourist signs, it isn't included in any official circuit. It's there, silent, resting—and whoever finds it feels as if they've discovered one of the city's secrets.

A sleeping bronze female figure, abandoned to rest as naturally as the sea retreats from the shore. In a port constantly in motion—cruise ships, sailboats, ferries—this still and silent sculpture is a perfect counterpoint: rest amidst the movement, stillness amidst the noise.

The Sailor by Renata Cuneo: A Story of Tragedy and Memory

The Tito Campanella tragedy

It all began on January 14, 1984, when the merchant ship Tito Campanella, owned by the Alframar company of Savona, disappeared in the Bay of Biscay. The ship, departing from the port of Oxlosund in Sweden, was supposed to transport a cargo of sheet metal to Greece. Within hours, all radio communications ceased, and the vessel was gone—one ship, thirteen thousand tons of steel sheet, and 24 crew members, including three from Savona.

No one will ever know for sure what happened to the Tito Campanella. But Savona never forgot.

The work of Renata Cuneo

In 1986, the Savona artist Renata Cuneo created the Monument to the Sailor , placed at the entrance to the old Darsena, as an everlasting memory of all the victims of the sea and in particular those of the ill-fated cargo ship.

The Sailor statue depicts a seafarer gazing toward the horizon, a lantern in his right hand—an eternal tribute to sailors and the victims of the sea, with a man clutching a lantern and gazing into the distance, toward his greatest love: the infinite horizon.

Who was Renata Cuneo?

Renata Cuneo (Savona, 5 October 1903 - 16 May 1995) is one of the most representative sculptors of the 20th century in Italy, particularly linked to the city of Savona to which, in 1986, she donated 50 sculptures in bronze, terracotta, ceramic and wax, 28 plaster casts and 150 drawings, kept and exhibited in the Fortezza del Priamar in the museum dedicated to her, inaugurated in 1990 in the Bastione di San Bernardo.

The Sailor at the Darsena is therefore the most visible and public work of an artist who left Savona an extraordinary sculptural heritage—and who deserves a visit to the Priamar museum to be fully understood.

The Darsena today: life, events, and aperitifs at the port

At sunset, the Darsena is transformed: the small squares come to life, lights reflect on the water, and the air fills with music and conversation. Concerts, theater performances on the Palcomare, markets, and exhibitions make the area a vibrant gathering place for residents and tourists.

The Darsena is also the starting point for whale-watching tours —boats depart from the Molo Marinai d'Italia every morning to discover dolphins and fin whales in the Pelagos Sanctuary. It's also the place from which, every morning, large cruise ships silently glide out into the open Mediterranean—a free spectacle that's worth a stroll around the harbor in itself.

A walking itinerary among the sculptures of the Darsena

For those who want to organize a structured visit, here is a short walking itinerary among the works of the Darsena:

• Torre Leon Pancaldo — starting point, with a stop to observe the swing bridge
• The Sleeping Mermaid — look for it carefully: it's not on display, but it's there
• The Sailor by Renata Cuneo — at the entrance to the old dock, overlooking the cruise ships
• Aperitif break — one of the bars overlooking the water, to enjoy the sunset over the port

Estimated time: 45 minutes, plus break.