Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre, The Ligurian Riviera, Italy (Road Trip 60)

September 2018 – The final Cinque Terre village……Riomaggiore is the most southern village of the Cinque Terre. It was first mentioned in the 13th century. The founders of the village moved from the hills to the sea, and built 3 to 4 storey houses on the rocky steep incline. The houses have two entrances, one at the front, and one at the back, usually higher up. The buildings were constructed this way not only because of the steep hills, but also for safety reasons, so that the inhabitants could escape in case of Saracen attacks.

Riomaggiore coming into view from the little cruise boat that had taken us all along the coast of the Cinque Terre National Park, the best way to see all five villages.  

Riomaggiore is like a labyrinth of alleys and steps, but as it is the first stop from La Spezia for the cruise ships, it was the busiest and the others that we visited, were not far behind.  We left the boat and made our way through the main street and up to the railway station to catch the train back to Manarola and some lunch.  I would have loved to have taken my time and explored some of the alleys, but most of them were being used as lunch stops…..people sitting and eating their packed lunches, and I was not in the mood to take their photos.  I had to talk my husband into going to the other two villages that I wanted to visit……he just wanted to get on the train and go back…..he even hates busy supermarkets.  Sad to say we had bought two days worth of train tickets which cost a lot of money, but I knew we would not be coming back, so I had to make the most of it.  The villages are wonderful, but I think they are going to have to start to control the amount of people visiting, less people would make a nicer visit for all.  Anyway I did manage to take a few photos and hopefully caught a little of this ancient village.