A wonderful holiday between… Cinque Terre and Portofino - monterosso uk

Monterosso The western village of the Cinque Terre is cut in two parts by San Cristoforo hill which divides the oldest part of the town, with its medieval historical centre, from the modern residential neighbourhood which stretches along the beach. The historical origin of the town dates back to 643, when the people living on the hills settled near the sea in order to escape from the barbarian invasion. Old Monterosso ispractically intact with its house-towers, crossed by narrow streets (here called “carruggi”). In order to avoid invasions from the sea, several defensive works were built. Part of this system are thecastle overlooking the sea with its three round towers, some parts of the town walls, the medieval tower, now the bell-tower of the Church of San Giovanni and the Aurora tower, one of the thirteen towers that in the 16th Century surrounded the town. The modern residential neighbourhood is developed along the seafront in the bay of Fegina. The vegetation surrounds the town of Monterosso like an embrace and its beach, the largest in the Coast of Cinque Terre, its crags and the crystal water of its sea make this little town one of the cosiest in the Eastern Ligurian Riviera. In the past, Monterosso had an important fishing fleet, that made the town famous for its fish, overall the salted anchovies and the fried fish preserved with vinegar in wooden kegs (“scabeccio”).