CINQUE TERRE
The villages of the Cinque Terre The origins of the Cinque Terre date from the half of the XI century.
Their recognition by the Unesco as “Mankind’s World Heritage” seals centuries of history.
When one observes the five little villages from the sea or from the hills at their back recognizes immediately their homogeneus shape. Apart from Corniglia, which is the only village not on the sea, but nestling on a high and steep cliff, the other “terre” are all enclosed in narrow valleys with little rivers crossing them.
The mouths of these rivers face tiny “ports” used to pull up the boats when the sea is rough. Then, if you have a closely look of each village, you find out a similar building pattern: steep stairs, narrow alleys, houses piled up one on the other as to build a defensive curtain. There are also typical building features: the slate or serpentine architrave, sometimes sculptured in low relief, the steep and narrow inner stairs, the presence of only one room for floor. Monterosso, the biggest one of the five, is the only one with a large beach and promenade connecting its historical centre to the Fegina quarter. Vernazza is protected by strong defensive works and has a fascinating Romanesque chuch. Romantically leaned on a rocky promontory, Corniglia dominates the sea from the highness of its houses and terraced vineyards. Manarola and Riomaggiore are the most typical and unspoilt villages of the five, with their pastel coloured houses, their little “ports” (porticcioli) and their medieval churches made precious by beautiful marble rosettes.
The Via dell’Amore” (The Lover’s Pathway)
The charming path connecting Manarola to Riomaggiore, partially cut out of the steep cliffs overlooking the sea, was once a narrow track built during the works for the railway towards La Spezia. But soon, the romantic pathway became “Via dell’Amore”, and with this name nowadays is wordly known.
The Sanctuaries of the Cinque Terre
- There are five sanctuaries that overlook each one of the villages:
- Nostra Signora di Soviore (Our Lady of Soviore) Monterosso
- Nostra Signora di Reggio (Our Lady of Reggio) Vernazza
- Nostra Signora delle Grazie (Our Lady of the Graces) S. Bernardino - Corniglia
- Nostra Signora della Salute (Our Lady of Health) Volastra - Manarola
- Nostra Signora di Montenero (Our Lady of Montenero) Riomaggiore
THE PATHS
The National Park offers interesting walks and excursions to discover the nature, the landscapes and the history of the Cinque Terre.
THE PATHS OF THE C.A.I. (Italian Alpine Club)
For the ones who love excursionism there are lots of paths tracked by the CAI that run through the territory of the park and offers astonishing views and unforgettable panoramas.
Path N.1, for example, goes up to the crest and dominates from the top the peerless landscape of the Cinque Terre, with alternating woods and open spaces. Several other paths run along the five villages cutting crossways the territory of the park. They are panoramic and naturalistic tracks, some of them are also of architectural and urbanistic interest. THE “SENTIERO AZZURRO” (Fair blue Track)
Path N. 2, known as “Sentiero Azzurro” is the most famous one. It collects the five villages for a total length of about12 Km. This coast path, with narrow and steep mule-tracks, offers wonderful panoramas on natural and anthropic landscape. It runs through the famous terraced vineyards in an extraordinary setting coloured by the sea, the sky and the ground and scented by the plants of the mediterranean bush. It can be hiked easily but, here and there it shows some narrowings. THE “VIA DEI SANTUARI” (Shrines Path) Each village of the Cinque Terre has its own shrine and each one has its path to reach it.
The “Via dei Santuari” connects all these charming worship places with easy paths and different landscape features. It is an unusual itinerary, a pilgrimage way, very interesting from the historical point of view because it preserves the ancient rural origins of the five villages.
THE “VIA dell’AMORE” (lOVER’S PATHWAY) The Via dell’Amore (a part of the “Sentiero Azzurro), connects Manarola to Riomaggiore, it is partially cut out of the steep cliffts overlooking the sea. It is a touristic itinerary that enchants the visitors in every season of the year for the beauty of the sea, the wild nature and the special morphology of the rocks. By the side of the path there are some benches that allow you to relax, while hearing the sound of the waves and the twittering of the birds.
TORRE GUARDIOLA (RIOMAGGIORE) The area known as “Batteria Racchia”, a military fortification of the Second World War, has been restyled and transformed in the “Torre Guardiola Naturalistic Observation Centre”. This itinerary is a full immersion in nature, one can study the vegetation, its perfumes, and observe the typical birds with the help of expert naturalistic guides. Inside the centre one can find the “Percorso della scrittura” (The Writing Path), that gives one the possibility to create personal texts inspired by the marvellous surrounding landscape.
NATURAL LANDSCAPE
The Cinque Terre National Park is a naturalistic oasis that had mantained throughout the years an uncontaminated nature. The landscape is made of steep cliffs of different ages and origin. The high and fretted coast is linear, without great coves and promontories. Here and there one can find charming caves carved by the sea during the centuries. There are few beaches all made by slopes , by deposits left there by man and by silts of the rivers. The mountain chain shelters the coast from northern winds, while hot and moist drafts that come from the sea are pushed north and cause fog and rain at a high altitude. The climate is mediterranean, with dry summers and mild winters. The vegetation is variegated, the ilex woods have been partly replaced by cultivated terraces or with other kinds of trees such as the sea pine, the Aleppo pine, cork-trees andchestnut trees. Along the coast grow the sea fennel and the caper, cultivated in the past. In the rock habitats one can find the sea cineraria, the rue and many other species of the mediterranean bush. In the whole area there are many kinds of shrubs like the rosemary , the thyme, the eternal flower and the lavender. Mixed bush, made by terebinto, myrtle, lentiscus, broom, strawberry trees, red juniper, asparagus, etruscan and sea honeysuckle, form a thick and tangled wood. The Cinque Terre National Park is, of course an ideal habitat for several faunistic species that find here good condition to live and reproduce. Among the species there are: the pilgrim hawk, the royal seagull, the imperial crow, the loir, the weasel, the mole, the beech-marten, the badger, the fox and the boar. In the wood areas is easy to meet the lizard, the green lizard and some serpents like the viper; near the streams live multicoloured frogs and salamanders.
ANTHROPIC LANDSCAPE
The meeting between man and nature led to a increasing in value of the national park territory. Since a thousand years man has cultivated larger and larger areas, undertaking a hard fight with nature, a challenge difficult to win because of the steepness of the mountain. Generation after generation man has crushed the rock to build the dry walls that form the famous terraced landscape of the area. The vineyards cultivation produce excellent wines, famous more for their quality than for their quantity. The wine is very sweet, above all for the closeness of the vineyards to the sea. The vine is not the only cultivation of the area, there are also many lemon trees, especially in Monterosso, olive groves and market gardens. This is a landscape cultivated with patience and care, that gives the national park an even more charming look, with winding terraces that, as a green coat runs along and overlook the sea. The little villages of the Cinque Terre have developed without ruining the natural landscape, even the roads that connect them are essential and many of them are practicable only on foot.
CINQUE TERRE PROTECTED MARINE AREA
The Cinque Terre protected marine area includes four municipalities: Riomaggiore (with the hamlet of Manarola), Vernazza (with the hamlet of Corniglia), Monterosso al mare and in part Levanto.
THE SEA FAUNA
The soundings of the Cinque Terre are very rich in sea fauna. In a comparative little soundings area like that of the Cinque Terre one can find a lot of sea fauna species, some of them not so spread in other areas of the Mediterranean sea, for example the Gorgonia Eunicella verrucosa and the mollusc Luria Lurida. The slight turbidness of these waters facilitates the growing of many sea species that like faint-light and that usually live in deeper waters just like the Paramunicea clavata, the most beautiful gorgonia of the Mediterranean sea.
THE VEGETATION
The rocky coast sounding which is typical of the whole protected area except for the beaches of Monterosso and Corniglia, helps the growing of several algas’ species. There are many of these organisms and their ability to create nourishment from solar energy represents the first ring of the food chain. The Posidonia (a kind of alga) is widespread on the sandy soundings of the Cinque terre, apart from several “bushes” of different size here and there, in Monterosso there is a real prairie that goes from a depht of 5-8 metres to 20-25, from Punta Mesco to Fegina beach. In the area in front of Corniglia, one can find the Cimodocea another alga, similar to the Posidonia, that forms here a little prairie. The hotel “Luna di Marzo” (March Moon) is in Liguria, in the very heart of the Cinque Terre National Park, in La Spezia province. It is possible to reach it with many means of transport.