The Cinque Terre are typical villages of eastern Liguria, which have become UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997 and National Natural Park since 1999. In ancient times small villages of farmers rather than fishermen, contrary to what you might think, this phenomenon is due to the origins of the population, deriving from the ancient Apuan Ligurian peoples of the valleys close to the coast and the gulf.

The first traces date back to the villages of Monterosso and Vernazza, the latter was born as a strategic military port for the defense against Saracen attacks around the XI century and a place of autonomous pirate aggregations that targeted merchant ships passing through the coast, followed by Corniglia, Manarola, Riomaggiore under the political and military hegemony of Genova.

For a long time isolated due to the difficult territorial conformation, only around the XIX century, thanks to the construction of the arsenal of La Spezia and the railway line, they reconnected to the outside, leading however to an abandonment of traditional activities, emigration abroad and an increase in general poverty.

Only towards the end of the XX century, with the beginning of tourism, well-being was restored, and today they are among the most popular destinations in the world.