- 1
The starting point is a village on the western side of the Gulf of La Spezia and is one of the thirteen fishing villages that compete each year participating in the Gulf Palio.
It is important to remember that Fezzano was the birthplace of Simonetta Cattaneo Vespucci whose beauty was celebrated by Botticelli who portrayed her in the Birth of Venus in 1482. Not only the beauty of Simonetta was immortalized in Botticelli's Venus, but also the stretch of coast that is the background to the painting, and from which Venus is born, reproduces the beauty of the coast of the Gulf of La Spezia where Fezzano is located.
- 2
Lerici, located on the eastern shore of the Gulf of La Spezia, was probably settled around the seventh century BC.C. in Etruscan times and over time its position made it a natural port first of the Ligurians and then of Rome. But it was with the Republic of Genoa (one of the 4 Maritime Republics that from Italy have characterized the history of the Mediterranean, and not only) that Lerici assumed strategic importance.
Dante Alighieri also seems to have passed through Lerici by virtue of the powerful quotation from Canto III of Purgatory, vv. 49 - 51, but it is the passage to Lerici (and Portovenere) of some English Romantic writers who define the Gulf of La Spezia as the Gulf of Poets; Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Godwin Wollstonecraft Shelley (the author of Frankenstein) and George Gordon Byron, to name the main ones.
- 3
Tellaro, the easternmost hamlet of Lerici, is a small fishing village perched on a cliff and is reviewed as one of the most beautiful villages in Italy. Saracen raids were common in this area.
On 19 July 1660, on a moonless night, Gallo d’Arenzano arrived with his fleet and attempted a landing in search of loot. In the lookout post on the bell tower of the church of San Giorgio that night Marco Arzellino was on guard who, fearing falling asleep, had tied himself to the bell rope. As luck would have it, he really fell asleep and made the bell ring just as the pirates disembarked and were then put to flight by citizens who rushed in arms. According to legend, instead, to call the inhabitants of Tellaro to the defense of the village was a giant octopus that clung to the ropes of the bells that came out of the wind.
- 4
The Groppolo or Groppolo beach is the small beach that is part of the beaches of Tellaro; a series of hidden coves and not easily accessible, only by sea or along little-marked and steep paths, which are located in the eastern part of the coast of the Gulf of La Spezia.
The beach is about 50 meters long, it is dark sand, without shade, closed to the east by Punta Groppolo, a large rock that is wedged into the sea. Beyond the rocky outcrop, the small breast continues, however, occupied by the landslide movement.
- 5
The island of Tino, the western end of the Gulf of La Spezia, along with Portovenere and the other islands Palmaria and Tinetto, has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1997.
A perimeter of about two kilometers encloses the 127,000 square meters of the island, lush for the mixed forest of pines and holm oaks that over the centuries has supplanted the previous olive and vine crops, dating back to the time of the settlements of Benedictine monks. An inaccessible and elevated cliff surrounds the island from the west making it inaccessible and, at the same time, strategic. The extreme tip of eastern Liguria, a natural lighthouse stretching out towards the Mediterranean.
San Venerio, born on the island of Palmaria and patron saint of the Gulf of La Spezia, retired as a hermitage on the island until his death. Legend has it that he lit fires to indicate the course to the sailors. For this reason, he is patron saint of taillighters and his example continues today, as evidenced by the lighthouse on the top of the cliff.
- 6
The island Palmària, with its area of 1.89 square km is the largest island in the Liguria region.
Since 1997, the island, along with the other islands of Tino and Tinetto and Portovenere, has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The island has a triangular shape: the sides facing Portovenere and the Gulf of La Spezia are the most anthropized.
The west-facing side of the island, facing the open sea, is characterized by high cliffs overlooking the water.
On the island there are also many military buildings of great historical interest including, at Punta Scuola, the armored tower Umberto I which had two 400 mm guns, that is, with the largest caliber for the time, for the defense of the gulf.
Noteworthy, in the southern part of the island called Pozzale, the quarry now abandoned and used once for the extraction of the precious black marble with golden streaks called Portoro.
- 7
Among the natural places in the territory of Portovenere is famous the sea caves of Byron (Cala dell'Arpaia).
Just past the channel of Porto Venere, towards Riomaggiore, there is a stretch of sea protected by the rocky outcrop on which stands the church of S.Peter on one side, and the ancient walls of the garrison on the other; the sea cavity has a minimum depth of five meters and a maximum of twenty along the side.
It takes its name from the English poet George Gordon Byron who drew inspiration and meditation from this place for his literary works and because it seems he landed there after the swimming crossing of the Gulf of La Spezia, from Lerici to Porto Venere.
- 8
The term Le Rosse identifies the spectacular cliffs located on the stretch of coast between Portovenere and Riomaggiore, precisely in Albana.
The cliffs owe their deep red color to the strong presence of iron oxide in the ammonite rock and are part of the UNESCO World Heritage site that includes Porto Venere, the Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto islands and the Cinque Terre.
They can be reached mainly by sea, while access by land is extremely rare since it is via very steep and extremely challenging paths that start from the village of Campiglia and not recommended unless you are very prepared for the most complicated routes.
The area is renowned for snorkeling, especially around the Galera rock, and diving thanks to the crystal clear waters that contrast with the color of the rocks.
