When we were visiting the region Liguria, we have decided to visit the jagged coastal zone of Cinque Terre, 15 km long. We have visited the five small villages of the area: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. They were disputed by different noble families before they became part of the Republic of Genoa and are very particular because in front they have the sea and behind them the mountains (Apennines) falling in it. The landscape is beautiful and has a few hectars of vineyards and olive cultivations, some of them longer than 2 km, terraced by drystone walls and beach pebbles. The villages are picturesque because they are built on the rock and have nice winding streets with small houses with stone roofs, grouped around churches, castles, harbours for fishing boats and now culverted streams. Monterosso al Mare is situated in a valley and you can see there the Gothic churches of St. John the Baptist, with a high tower (a former isolated watch tower), a front with strips, a rose window and a porch, and St. Francis, that contains important paintings of Van Dyck, Bernardo Castello, Bernardo Strozzi and Luca Cambiaso, the remains of a castle, of the walls and of the Tower Aurora, the oratories of the Death and of the Holy Cross. In Vernazza (constructed on a rock) you can find a main road going to the square where overlooks the apse of the Gothic church of St. Margaret of Antioch, that has two levels, the Franciscen convent, the remains of the walls and a tower. Corniglia is the only town built on a promontory, where you can admire the church of St. Peter, reconstructed in Baroque style, that has a Gothic portal and rose windows, the Oratory of St. Catherine and the House of Fieschi. In Manarola (a small village constructed on a rock) is the the Gothic church of St. Lawrence with a tower, a nice rose window made by Matteo and Pietro from Campilio, some relieves and altars, the remains of the walls, the oratory of the Assumption of the Virgin and the leprosarium of St. Rocco. In Riomaggiore there is the neo-Gothic church of St. John the Baptist, with a Gothic rose window, the nice remains of a castle, the Chapel of St. Rocco and the Oratory of the Assumption of the Virgin.

I liked very much this landscape because of the beauty of its towns and of the scenery. It's worth to be visited if you are in Liguria (it's hard to get there and the best way to do it is by train and the centres are closed to the traffic) and justifies the inscription, even if maybe it can be extended to the coastal zone as far as the promontory of Portofino and inscribed also under natural criteria.

Photo: Manarola - View to the centre and the vineyards from the castle