LucadeaLuca is the creator of this site. He travels the world for work and loves taking photographs and sharing them with all his visitors.

San Bernardo church tower above Sestri Levante.
My camera turns once again towards the hills above my hometown, where the tiny hamlet of San Bernardo offers a different perspective on Sestri Levante. This time I focused on the church tower, a simple but recognisable feature of this small hillside settlement.
San Bernardo is one of those places I know especially well through photography. I have taken several photographs from this tiny hamlet above Sestri Levante, and some of them have already found their way onto this blog. The position makes it possible to look at the town from a different angle, away from the immediate views of the centre and the coastline.
For this photograph, however, I was not necessarily looking for a wide panorama. I pointed the camera towards the church tower and allowed this small architectural detail to become the main subject. I enjoy photographing familiar places in this way: returning to the same location and finding a different detail or a new way of framing something I have already seen many times.
When thinking about what to see in Sestri Levante, most people will naturally think of the Bay of Silence, the caruggio, the peninsula and the sea. The hills are less obvious, but they are part of the same landscape and offer another side of the town. San Bernardo is a good example of this quieter, more rural dimension.
The position of the hamlet also makes the relationship between the small settlement and the surrounding hills particularly noticeable. As you move away from the areas closer to the sea, the landscape gradually changes and the hills become more present. This transition is one of the things I enjoy observing whenever I bring my camera up here.
The church tower in this photograph therefore works as more than just an architectural detail. It is also a visual reference for San Bernardo itself. In a settlement this small, the church and its tower naturally become part of the identity of the place and help define its appearance.
I took the photograph because that particular detail caught my attention. I do not always need to find a completely new subject when I am photographing Sestri Levante. Sometimes changing the viewpoint or simply narrowing the frame is enough. That is one of the reasons I can keep photographing my hometown even after having already covered so many of its corners.
This image also connects naturally with other photographs I have shared from the hills around Sestri Levante, including another photograph taken in San Bernardo that looks back towards the town from above. They are small pieces of the same landscape, each recorded from a slightly different point of view.
If you are looking for where to see Sestri Levante from a less familiar perspective, the hillside hamlets offer exactly that opportunity. They take you away from the centre while keeping you closely connected to the town below. For me, there is an added pleasure in photographing these places because I know the area well and can keep discovering small details.
The church tower may not be one of the landmarks normally mentioned when people talk about Sestri Levante, but that is precisely what makes it interesting to me. A personal photo blog is also about preserving these quieter corners and giving them a little space alongside the more famous views.

Have you ever made your way up to San Bernardo to see Sestri Levante from this side of the hills? Add a comment or go to the bottom of the site to read what other visitors have written.

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