Il Miglio Verde di Paraggi

Set in the sheltered inlet of Paraggi between Santa Margherita Ligure and Portofino, Il Miglio Verde di Paraggi is an open water swimming race held in the sea along the Ligurian coast. The competition takes its name from the luminous green waters of the cove, which stands out with an emerald clarity protected by the surrounding promontory. Stepping into the water here means entering a calm, sheltered natural amphitheater of the Mediterranean. The race covers a course of one nautical mile, precisely 1,852 meters. Laid out across the bay, the buoys form a distinctive route shaped like an arrow pointing back toward the beach. Swimmers stroke through the open sea to round the turn buoys, navigating the bay before sighting back toward the pale shoreline.

The event debuted in September 2024 under the organization of Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica AQUAMANARA 1968. Scheduled in June, the swim takes place entirely within the Portofino Marine Protected Area. It brings together athletes from across Italy for a gathering centered on sea sport and community.

Portofino Marine Protected Area: sand beds and posidonia meadows

The underwater environment of Paraggi is defined by its sandy sea floor, which is the only sandy beach anywhere in the vicinity of Portofino. Across the rest of the surrounding promontory, the coastline is predominantly rocky. This light sand under the water reflects the ambient daylight, creating the emerald green hues that characterize the bay. The Area naturale marina protetta Portofino was established by the Ministry of the Environment in April 1999. Within this protected reserve, the sandy substrate supports meadows of Posidonia oceanica that grow at depths down to 40 meters. In the Cala dell'Oro sector of the marine protected area, all access, navigation, and swimming are strictly prohibited to ensure total tranquility. In other sectors, the seabed provides shelter to the noble pen shell, Pinna nobilis, a giant bivalve mollusk threatened across the Mediterranean by harvesting and disease. Down in deeper waters, coralligenous habitats host distinctive algae such as the red Peyssonnelia squamaria and the green Halimeda tuna.

Castello di Paraggi: seventeenth-century bastion over the eastern cove

Rising above the eastern edge of the bay, the Castello di Paraggi occupies a small promontory that closes the cove. The Republic of Genoa ordered its construction in 1626 to defend the Tigullio coast against hostile naval incursions. The fortress was part of a broader defensive effort across the gulf, where communities sought security against devastating Saracen pirate raids. About three kilometres away, the castle of Santa Margherita Ligure was designed by architect Antonio de Càrabo, who also designed the castle of Rapallo in 1551. Construction of the Santa Margherita fortress was completed in 1550, and it underwent armament and structural upgrades until the early seventeenth century. That fortress eventually lost its military role during the eighteenth century when pirate incursions ended.

The castle at Paraggi retained its defensive utility well into the modern era. Between 1812 and 1814, French troops belonging to Napoleon Bonaparte occupied the stronghold. Today, the historic citadel remains an evocative stone sentinel keeping watch over the emerald swimming waters below.

Abbazia della Cervara: terraced gardens and the watchtower on the cliff

About one kilometre from the race area, the coastal landscape preserves the wild character that once gave the region its historic name. The stretch of coast along the Gulf of Tigullio was known in antiquity as Silvaria, named for the dense forest of vegetation covering the steep hillsides. Today, the Mediterranean scrub is still dominated by evergreen holm oaks, Aleppo pines, mastic trees, viburnum, and strawberry trees that run right down to the sea. Nestled into this forested shore stands the Abbazia della Cervara, a former monastic complex fortified in 1546 to protect the resident monks from Saracen raids. Standing behind the monastery out of respect for its sacred character, a sixteenth-century surveillance tower was raised to monitor maritime traffic and look out for approaching vessels.

In 1525, King Francis I of France was held prisoner in this cliffside tower for an entire week following his defeat at the Battle of Pavia. The abbey's monumental Italian garden is celebrated as the only monumental Italian garden in the entire region of Liguria situated right over the maritime surf.

Portofino Promontory: Castello Brown, the lighthouse, and the submerged Christ

Archaeological excavations conducted at Castello Brown revealed the remains of a Roman watchtower dating back to the second or third century. The fortress later resisted attacks by Admiral Andrea Doria, who had successfully captured most other defensive forts along the Riviera di Levante. Between 1554 and 1557, a new platform facing the harbor was added to defend against Saracen pirate attacks, before the site was decommissioned and disarmed in 1867. In that same year, British consul Montague Yeats Brown purchased the decommissioned property and transformed its military parade ground into an expansive hanging garden. At the western extremity of the promontory stands the Portofino Lighthouse, positioned along the waters of the Gulf of Tigullio.

Built in 1917, the lighthouse stands with its lantern forty metres above sea level. Its beacon flashes a white light every five seconds, sending a navigation beam visible out to 16 nautical miles across the open sea. Further along the coast, about four kilometres away, lies the secluded bay of San Fruttuoso, hidden in a deep cove inaccessible by road. A watchtower was erected there in 1562 to protect the abbey from Barbary pirate incursions, while the sea-facing wing of the abbey dates back to the thirteenth century. The historic structures survived centuries of coastal weather and a major flood in 1915, drawing writers like Göran Schildt, who visited the bay aboard his ketch in 1948.

San Fruttuoso Bay is also famous as the resting place of the Cristo degli abissi, located in Zone B of the marine protected area. Placed on the seabed in 1954 at a depth between 14.4 and 17 meters, the bronze statue reaches up toward the surface with its highest point at 10 meters depth. The sculpture was cast using bronze from military medals, naval parts, and submarine propellers donated by the U.S. Navy. After suffering anchor damage, it was restored in 2003 to repair structural wear and clear marine incrustations. The statue's cultural resonance has led to copies elsewhere, including one sunk in Lake Palù in 1972 to oppose water basin draining, and another placed in St. George's harbor in Grenada to commemorate the rescue of the passenger liner Bianca C after a fire in 1961. Back in the emerald shallows of Paraggi, the arrow-shaped mile offers swimmers an intimate encounter with this storied coast.