"And along the coastline there are five castles, at nearly the same distance one from the other: 'Rubra, Vulnetia, Cornelia, Manium Arula, Rivus Maiorche which now are commonly called Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, Riomaggiore not only known in Italy but also the Welsh and British praise them for their wine's nobility. Note worthy to see like a spectacle, the mountains not only in sweet incline but also quick so that even the birds flying over tire. Covered with stones that don't hold back water, vineyards cover the land, so meagre and delicate that seem more like ivy than vines. From here comes wine for the table from a King".
G. Bracelli, "De bello hispaniensi orae ligusticae descriptio", 1448
Consorzio Turistico Cinque Terre
Piazza Garibaldi, 29
Monterosso al Mare (SP)
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Five miles of rocky coast in eastern Liguria, two promontories lie at each extremity, thousands of kilometres of dry walling, cultivated into vineyards, five southerly villages castled up on spurs of stone or disposed in clusters of very small inlets. These are the co-ordinates of the Cinque Terre (Five lands).
Recognized finally as a National Park in 1999 and UNESCO protected territory since 1997 as a system of naturalistic environmental interest. This zone is characterized by the presence of precipitous slopes which have been cultivated into vineyards by means of fatiguing system of terracing the only evidence of transformation operated by the laborious human activity on the territory.
The suggestive type of coastal projections on the sea with sheer cliffs that often overtake the verticality alternated with bays, winding paths and enchanting small beaches between cliffs with a profound back drop, a rich variety of ichthyic (fishing) all of which make this district an authentic natural "opera of art".
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