On our second day in Cinque Terre, we went village hopping by boat on a Daily Ticket of Navigazione Golfo dei Poeti that allowed us to use all the routes included in Linea 02 (yellow line on map) in one day, from the port of departure to any destination, and return free of charge to any port. A very flexible option for tourist with limited time.
We saw the villages of Corniglia and Manarola the day before by train (click links to see our earlier posts). If you like to join us on this epic road trip from the beginning in Switzerland, click here for the first post of the series.
The body of water in this area is officially Gulf of La Spezia but also romantically known as Gulf of Poets (Golfo dei Poeti) since 1919. Percy Bysshe Shelley lived in the village of San Terenzo (see above map, first stop east of La Spezia), and he died when his boat was hit by a storm on his way home from Livorno (further south of the area). D. H. Lawrence lived his pre-World War I years in this area. And there is a grotto dedicated to Lord Byron at Porto Venere (Portovenere in English) from which he travelled (legend has it that he swam) to visit his friends the Shelleys on the other side of the gulf.
Porto Venere was the first village we saw from the boat after leaving La Spezia. It is not one of the five villages that constitute Cinque Terre. It sits on the tip of the headland that defines the western side of Golfi dei Poeti.
This fortified fishing village is guarded by the 16th century Castello Doria and a wall with towers, built by the Genoese Doria family. Since seeing the family’s villa on Via Garibaldi in Genoa, we noticed their mausoleum at San Fruttuoso and now a castle here. The Doria family‘s influences in this area since the 12th century are beyond legendary.
Porto Venere’s harbor is pretty and the village appears small and quaint but well-kept for visitors. Had we known about this village, it would have been a more picturesque place to stay than La Spezia.
Across the water from the harbor is Isola Palmaria, the largest of three islets. Isola del Tino and the tiny Isola del Tinetto are the other two, and together the three islets constitute a nature park.
At the tip of the headland stood the church of San Pietro – the patron saint of fisherman, built in 1277 over the ruins of a Roman temple to Venus (as the name of the village originates from Venus). Restored in 1930’s, it has the typical black-and-white striped design on the outside, and apparently on the inside as well.
The church and its site look even more impressive and dramatic from the sea.
As our boat made a turn at the tip of the headland, the cliffs and wild coastline of Cinque Terre was revealed.
Riomaggiore was our first stop of the day in one of the Cinque Terre villages. Click here to see our next post.
The bird’s eye image of Porto Venere is generated in Google Earth.
