The Cinque Terre (Five Lands) in Liguria

This Ligurian coastal region, from Cinque Terre to Portovenere, is a "site" as defined in Article 1 of the Convention. It is a unique example of the creation of landscape that is the work of humankind and nature.
The natural landscape and that of human settlements as we know them today has come down to us thanks to the assiduity and perseverance over the years with which humans have repaired the stone walls surrounding the cultivated fields.
Monumental constructions have also been subject to restoration, so that on the one hand the additions of several periods have been handed down to us and on the other we have preserved the oldest parts of them, so that we can now consider this area of territory as a particular portrait of the history, the economy, and the life of the communities of Ligmia.
The characteristic form of the slope of the mountain, modified by human hand, is comparable with that of certain landscapes in the Andes: steep terraced slopes which follow and intermingle with centres of habitation.
The clustering of the compact centres of population on the coast also recall some of the islands of the Aegean. The legislative protection of the landscape and of the monuments has ensured that the sites have been defended against speculative building.


Vernazza - Cinque Terre (Five Lands)