Cinque Terre Italy
The Cinque Terre or The Five Lands are five villages in the Liguria region of Italy: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. I recently visited two of them, Manarola and Riomaggiore, during a short vacation in Tuscany and Liguria.
These towns are incredible; they have a special atmosphere of small medieval seaside settlements that have kept their historical face because of the surrounding mountain landscape. Over the centuries, people have carefully built terraces on the rugged, steep landscape right up to the cliffs that overlook the sea. Paths, trains and boats connect the villages, but cars cannot reach them from the outside. The Cinque Terre is also famous for the vineyards that surround each town which is a source of pride for local people.
Manarola is the oldest and the second smallest town of the Cinque Terre. Here you can easily access the ocean and “have a bath” during the hotter months. In Riomaggiore, there is boat rental service that gives visitors an opportunity to enjoy the sea.
The Via dell’Amore (Path of Love) is a path connecting Riomaggiore to Manarola. The paved walking path was laid over the rocky cliffs along the sea and is a little more than one kilometer. One part of the path has fences where lovers can place a lock as a symbol of their strong feelings. Another small part passes through a tunnel, where the walls are devoted to declarations of love which anyone can write on.
Text and Photos by Nell Rakhimova
Love Cinque Terre. This makes me want to head back ASAP.
Jeff, did you hear they just had massive flash flooding? Monterosso and Vernazza were most seriously hit. I think they will need much time to recover, but then tourism dollars will help. Rick Steves is covering the situation well: http://www.ricksteves.com/news/travelnews/cinque-terre-floods.htm
Wow. I hadn’t heard. I hope the damage wasn’t too serious. As well as the natural beauty, I remember the people of Vernazza being so wonderful.
Wow! Hadn’t heard about the flooding! Some of my favorite memories were made in Riomaggiore!
On October 25, 2011 Vernazza was the victim of massive flooding and
mudslides that killed 3 residents, terrorized locals and visitors, and
left the town buried in over 4 meters (13+ feet) of mud and debris.
Vernazza has been horribly damaged. The townspeople have been evacuated
with the exception of 30 volunteers and emergency crews and the road to
rebuilding will be long, complicated and costly.
In response, myself and 2 other American women have formed Save Vernazza
ONLUS (an Italian nonprofit, endorsed by Rick Steves:
http://www.ricksteves.com/news/travelnews/cinque-terre-floods.htm).
We have lived in Vernazza for years, originally arriving as tourists from
6 to 16 years ago. We fell in love with the place and its people and
relocated to create families, businesses and friendships in Vernazza.
We have met so many wonderful people along the way. Some of you may know
us already:
Michele Sherman, wife of Giuliano Basso of Camere Giuliano and mother of 4
year old Sofia.
Michele Lilley, wife of Antonio Greco and mother of 6 year old Magdalena.
Owner of Bottega d’Arte Cinqueterre on main street Via Roma next to the
Coop market.
Ruth Manfredi, wife of Cristiano Fornelli and mother of 7 year old
Isabella and 2 year old Adriano. Vernazza has been a second home to
Cristiano and his family for the past 50 years.
Our mission is to reach out to everyone who has been touched by Vernazza
and its beauty to raise funds for the immediate reconstruction and
long-term environmental and cultural sustainability of the village. We
created Save Vernazza ONLUS to ensure that donations go directly to
projects for the restoration and preservation of the community we came to
know and love.
For more information, please visit us at http://savevernazza.com/ or on
Facebook at Save Vernazza. Donations can be made to Save Vernazza ONLUS
via Paypal or by international bank transfer. Please see our website for
details.
Working together, we can all make a difference.
Tanti Saluti da Vernazza,
Michele Sherman
Save Vernazza ONLUS
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What an awesome travel destination. I love the color contrast in the photos. Thanks for sharing.