ATTRACTIONS
The Gulf of La Spezia, known as the ” Gulf of the Poets ” by the frequent visits of Lord G. Byron and Percy B. Shelley.
It is opened to Levant with a series of small small villages and charming “calette” where you can enjoy the beauty and the tranquillity of the sea from Liguria, in towns like Montemarcello, Tellaro, Fiascherino and Serra.
The town of Lerici, one of the more notable destinations, is known for the remarkable beauty surpassed on the top of the cape from a castle of the 12th Century.
The castle, now center of the Geopantologico Museum, dominates this small village of only 13,000 residents with its pentagonally-shaped tower.
The village is known also for the beautifulst oratory of Saint Rocco, the parochial one of Saint Francisco and for the annexed oratory of Saint Bernardino.
A trip to Lerici cannot be without a stop in the typical restaurants – with menus centered on the specialties of the region, such as the “grain cake farro” , “polpo to the aromatic grass” or the fish soup.
Approaching the town of La Spezia, we first meet the beautiful beach “Venere Azzurra”, a continuation from another typical Ligurian village “Saint Terenzo” – the center of a museum dedicated to the poet Percy B. Shelley’s wife and dominated by a castle of the 15th Century.
Continuing on San.Bartolomeo avenue, we arrive at the provincial capital, La Spezia.
This center, in the recent years, has undergone much restyling, with the closing of traffic to the historical center (where one finds the Hotel Theatre) and the opening of various museums.
Amongst which that cannot be forgotten, the Museum Amedeo Lia, modern and contemporary art center CAMeC, and the Naval Technical museum of Military Navy.
Today one can view in the city the castle of S. George, constructed from the Genovesi in 13th Century, and center of the municipal archaeological collection.
The beautiful Morin walk from which the ferries for Cinque Terre (Five Lands) and Palmaria Island leave which, practically deserted, is a wonderful natural park, with paths in the green, rich I found them, and impressive coves (Azzurra i dei Colombi).
There is particular interest is the local restaurants, which serve on the menu typical plates like: the Mescciua, the Farinata, the cozze alla marinara and ripiene, the Testaroli, and the Panigacci.
The Gulf of the Poets closes a ponente with Portovenere, a beautifulst example of genovese architecture of 12th Century, recently the elected world-wide patrimony from the Unesco.
The typical pastel colors of its houses and the waters color emerald of its sea, make La Spezia a hot-spot for tourists from around the world.
The particular fascination of this village are the changes of seasons, in the extent in which the landscape us appears much evocative one.
Climbing on the pointed out cliff and on the sea, the church of Saint Peter svetta on the Byron cove and the carruggi in stone that crosses the country, and continuing towards the parish of Saint Lorenzo, begins a path that leads through the natural park of Cinque Terre.
On this fifteen kilometers of coast, there five small villages along the cliff: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso.
The train is the best and the most economic way in order to reach them from Genoa or from La Spezia.
These villages of fishermen still preserve the scents and the traditional colors.
The impressive melting of sea and stone, the limpid waters where and the black coral lives, they make these places unique.
The better way in order to discover the natural beauty of Five Lands is to cross them walking trough the “Way of the Love”