Photos

Riomaggiore is the easternmost of the Cinque Terre and is located in the narrow valley of the "rio Maior", along whose course the village was born. Though maintaining its fishing and agricultural roots, tourism has become very important to the economic life of the village over the last few decades, partly due to its easy access from La Spezia.

Riomaggiore is the first Cinque Terre Village you meet coming from La Spezia. The houses of the medieval village lean one to the other, intersected by deep small streets and sheltered paths. In the central lands are all vine-yards, producing a famous and good white wine. Its origins date back to the end of the XII century. The quay is suggestive and framed among typical coloured buildings called "case torri" (tower houses). Torre Guardiola's path starts from the small Fossola beach is an incredible botanic walk in the nature. Unforgettable is "Via dell'Amore" (The Lovers' Pathway) the most famous path of Cinque Terre from Riomaggiore to Manarola, the next of the 5 villages.

The birth of the village, according to tradition, dates back to the 8th Century, when it was founded by group of Greek refugees who escaped the religious persecution of the Byzantine Emperor, Leone III 'L'Isaurico'. The earliest historical information concerns its transfer from the hands of the Fieschi family to the Republic of Genova in 1276.

The village has an urban layout made up of a series of footpaths which follow the outline of the land. These steep footpaths allow direct access to the upper floors of some of the houses, the oldest of which are tower-like and built vertically in parallel clusters.

I visited this village in August 1999, and had a wonderful time inspecting the village and surrounds. One thing that surprised me was the visit of a fish truck selling fish to the ‘Fishing” village.

The photo was scanned, sharpened, contrasted, saturated and cropped