Riomaggiore - The Cinque Terre

The village of Riomaggiore rise between two craggy hills that slopes into the sea. It looks like a creche with all its little colored houses built vertically and its really suggestive to have a walk in these alleys, where lights and shadows create very particular effects. The originality of Riomaggiore’s houses is due to the fact that each one has two entry: one is at level of one street the other is at level of the upper street. The houses had this particular structure since 1500 to allow a fast escape route in case of Saracenic raids. In Riomaggiore starts the well known Via dell’Amore, a paved path dug into the rock, that finish in Manarola. The path is wonderful, you’ll walk among nature hearing the sound of waves breaking on the rocks. Riomaggiore is a shy town, that makes slowly discover itself, revealing little by little its Castello sul colle di Cerricò, that has a beauty panorama overlooking the sea, or the church of San Giovanni Battista.