The only natural port,the village
of Riomaggiore develops along the Vernazzola
stream (now covered) climbing up the
rocky face of a cliff, which hides the
view of houses to those who come at
it from the sea. Very narrow, steep
paths descend towards the main road
which leads onto a small square located
facing the small port. Along with the
typical tower-shaped houses, which are
also present in Riomaggiore, Manarola
and Monterosso, there are more architecturally
elaborate buildings decorated by portals
and porticos, as a reminder of the prosperity
the village once enjoyed under Genoese
domination.
"Are small and fragile, unique
and in danger: everybody's support is
needed to keep them as they are, as
we like them!"
This is the phrase choosen by the CinqueTerre
National Park to introduce an interesting
"Sustainable Tourism Project"
born with the aim to protect this unique
landscape...
Why are they in danger? The answer
is again in the same speech:
"The territory is the result of
the millennial labour of farmers who
transformed the steep slopes into fertile
terraces for the the cultivation of
the wine. There are over eight million
cubic metres, seven thousand linear
kilometres of dry-stone walls (without
any cementing agent). An immense mosaic,
an immensurable heritage, the result
of an amirable collective civilisation.
Today all of this is at great risk,
because of the abandonment of cultivation
that has plummeted from one thousand
four hundred hectares to today's less
than a hundred hectars. Where the presence
and work of man has eased off, hydro-geological
instability is almost immediate: entire
hillsides have already been rendered
useless ahd they hang threateningly
over the villages underneath."
The National Park has born in 1999
and the address of its headquarter is:
Riomaggiore, Via T. Signorini 118,
19017;
phone: +39 0187 760000-920113; fax +39
0187 920866
e-mail: parconazionale5terre@libero.it
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Other Properties 
"Environmental quality brand" by our National Park.
