Left the Tigullio Gulf the boat go across the Riva Trigoso bay, famous for its shipyards,
and doubled the charming Point Baffe it reaches Moneglia, native town of the painter Luca Cambiaso.
Getting into La Spezia County, you see Deiva Marina, medieval village and Framura, whose hamlets lie down on a wide natural amphitheatre sloping down the sea.
After Bonassola, village with deep maritime traditions, you sail towards the Promontory of Mesco passing off Levanto,
big center surrounded by old hamlets full of history and monuments.
Gone beyond Point Mesco, till Cape Montenero, extends a broad gulf onto face the tiny villages MONTEROSSO, VERNAZZA, CORNIGLIA, MANAROLA, RIOMAGGIORE known as the Cinque Terre since 1448.
They are five villages by the sea, set on the rocks in an environment that man has shaped over the centuries,
by building dry-stone walls and terraced grounds on which the vite has grown all the time.
Stone and salinity, wind and sun are the secrets of the Cinque Terre wine and of the rare and precious Sciacchetrà,
produced by letting wither the best grapes of the nicest gathered bunches.
The Cinque Terre are one of the greenest and most extended Mediterranean areas in Liguria, a kingdom of nature and marvelous scents.
Visiting those means seeing five villages suspended between land and sea, grasped on sheer cliffs and surrounded by green hills.
The cliff of Torre Aurora (16th century) neatly divides the Monterosso’s historical centre from the most recent settlements in Fegina,
born westward close to the only wide and sandy beach in that area.
In the ancient village, quite well conserved and dominated from above by the ruins of the old “castrum” Obertengo,
you will find the interesting Church of S.Giovanni Battista built between 1244 and 1307, with one nave and two aisles,
beautiful example of the ligurian gothic style, has at its side an embattled bell-tower, born as a fortification and then raised in the 15th century.
In Soviore, now Monterosso’s high grounds, there is the ancient Sanctuary of Madonna di Soviore.
To the tourist who arrives from the sea, Vernazza reveals itself without any shyness or reluctance,
with the characteristic place crowded with the tables of the restaurants, and framed by the lively harbour,
from the coloured houses and from the beautiful parish church of Santa Margherita d’Antiochia (11th to 13th century), which deserves to be seen.
Along the main street you can find those shops where every tourist can enjoy the taste of the famous white Ovine of the Cinque Terre,
or where he can find the unfailing souvenir.
Here you have a labyrinth of steep stairs and streets running around the houses among arches and gates,
leading you to the ruins of the powerful fortifications still overlooking the village.
Beside the small sandy belt in the harbour, bathers can lie under the sun and dive from the cliffs,
but we suggest to the seaside-freaks to move to Monterosso, easy to reach by train or by boat as all the other villages.
Far hikers, the distances in term of time are the following: Vernazza Monterosso: about 2 hours; Vernazza-Corniglia: about 1,30 hours.
Leaving the big seaside front in the eastern part of the settlement, climbing up the 365 brick-stairs, you reach Corniglia, a small village gripped to a rocky promontory about 120 yards above sea level.
Excluded from mass tourism, Corniglia is surely the most singular among the Cinque Terre, and walking around the silence of its narrow streets you can feel like travelling backward in time.
S.Pietro’s church, built in 1334 on the ruins of a chapel of the 11th century, deserves a visit as well as the Sanctuary dedicated to N.S. delle Grazie, in the near village of S. Bernardino.
The village of Manarola is partially wedged in the valley of the river Volastra and sheltered behind near steep rocky cliff.
Remarkable is the church dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (14th century), above which you can notice the weird position of its beli tower, born as a defense tower on the apposite side of the churchyard.
Walking through olive tree sand vineyards, you will reach Volastra, which hides the ancient Sanctuary of N.S. della Salute, founded during the 10th century.
Near the railway station in Manarola starts the famous Via dell’Amore, leading up to Riomaggiore through a wonderful path carved into the rock hanging above the sea.
This path was realized in the Twenties during improvement works of the railway.
Edificated around the XII century by the inhabitants of the nearby villages, Riomaggiore has nowadays reached a remarkable site,
but it still keeps intact the enchantment of a fishing village, with its coloured houses of the “Marina” overlooked by the ruins of the cast/e (13th century) and facing the tiny harbour.
In the high part of Riomaggiore, you can find the Church of s. Giovanni Battista, founded in November the Bth,1340, and on the eastern high ground of the village,
the Sanctuary of Montenero represents an excellent sightseeing place over the Cinque Terre and over the coast towards Portovenere and the Islands.