Page 247 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Italy

LIGURIA І 245

and-white, 13th-century church
of San Pietro. From here, or
from the 16th-century castle
on top of the cliffs on the
northwestern side of the village,
there are superb views of the
Cinque Terre and the small
island of Palmaria, about 400 m
(435 yards) offshore.

t Lerici
La Spezia. * 10,500. @ g
n Via Biagini 6, Località Venere
The dramatic coastline near Corniglia in the Cinque Terre Azzurra (0187 96 73 46). ( Sat am.
e Cinque Terre or Lovers’ Lane, to Riomaggiore, ∑ parconazionale5terre.it
a 15-minute walk away. This stretch of coast, along
La Spezia. V to all towns.
g Monterosso, Vernazza. The best way to visit the the Gulf of La Spezia or Poets’
n Via Fegina 40, Monterosso villages is by boat (from La Spezia, Gulf, was once popular with
(0187 81 70 59) (summer only); Lerici or Porto Venere) or by train such literati as Yeats and D H
Piazza Rio Finale 26, Riomaggiore (La Spezia–Genoa railway line). Lawrence. The village of San
(0187 92 06 33). Terenzo, across the bay from
∑ parconazionale5terre.it Lerici, was where the poet
r Portovenere Shelley spent the last four years
The Cinque Terre are five self- La Spezia. * 3,900. @ g n Piazza of his life. It was from his home,
contained villages – Monterosso Bastreri 7 (0187 79 06 91). ( Mon. the Casa Magni, that he set out
al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, ∑ prolocoportovenere.it in 1822 on a voyage to meet
Manarola and Riomaggiore – Leigh Hunt in Livorno. Tragically,
located on the rocky coastline Named after the goddess Venus, he was shipwrecked near
of the Riviera di Levante. Portovenere is one of the most Viareggio and drowned.
Clinging dramatically to the romantic villages on the Ligurian The popular resort of Lerici
steep cliffs, these villages coast, with its cluster of narrow sits on the edge of a beautiful
are linked only by an streets lined with pastel- bay overlooked by pastel-
ancient footpath coloured houses. In coloured houses. The forbidding
known as the the upper part of medieval Castello di Lerici
Sentiero the village is the (13th century), built by the
Azzurro (Blue 12th-century Pisans and later passed to the
Path), which church of San Genoese, dominates the
offers spec- Lorenzo. holiday villas below. Today
tacular views A sculpture it houses a museum of
of the rocky Above the doorway of San Lorenzo in over the geopaleontology and hosts
coastline Portovenere doorway here art exhibitions and concerts.
and terraced depicts the
vineyards that produce martyrdom of the saint who was + Castello di Lerici
the local dry white Cinque roasted alive on a grill. On the Piazza San Giorgio. Tel 0187 96 90 42.
Terre wines. The footpath stone promontory that curls out Open Tue–Sun. Closed 9–26 Dec. &
also provides access to into the sea is the small, black- ∑ castellodilerici.it
secluded beaches.
These days the five villages
suffer from some depopulation.
The largest, Monterosso al
Mare, on the northwestern
edge of the Cinque Terre,
overlooks a wide bay with its
own sandy beach. Vernazza,
further down the coast, has
streets linked by steep steps or
arpaie. Corniglia, perched at
the pinnacle of rocky terraces,
seems untouched by the
passage of time, as does
Manarola, which is linked by
the famous Via dell’Amore, The harbour of Vernazza in the Cinque Terre
Brightly painted buildings in Manarola, one of the villages that make up the Cinque Terre

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