The first settlement here dates back to the 8th century BC. Conquered by the Lombards in 643, then under Genoese dominion in the 13th century,
until the Napoleonic Wars in the early 19th century. Subsequently it was given to the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont as part of the Duchy of Genoa.
Nietzsche drew inspriation for Zarathustra while walkking on the roads surrounding Rapallo. Exra Poind spent much time here in the late 1920s and 1930s,
Max Beerbohn lived here from 1910 until his death in 1956. The founder of the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company – Domingo Ghirardelli – was born here in 1817,
and died here in 1894.