Explore The Stunning Seaside Town Of Portovenere

Portovenere is one of the most picturesque seaside towns in all of Italy. Located on the coast in Liguria, this elegant vacation and resort destination is a wonderful combination of brightly painted houses against blue skies, beautiful sea views, a lively port, winding streets and tiny alleys, architectural gems and a relaxed atmosphere. It is incredibly pretty but is also full of things to see and do in both the immediate and surrounding area.

The area is connected to the gods and ancient legend, legendary poets like Byron and writers like the Shelleys and kings of old and is home to one of the prettiest churches in the country, a majestic castle and much more besides. If you are looking for a dreamy little seaside getaway in Italy where there is also plenty to keep you occupied, look no further.

Just find a villa with swimming pool in Liguria and fall in love with this exceptional little town.

One of the most famous tourist attractions in the town is the Church of San Pietro, a stunning little church perched picturesquely on the tip of the promontory of Portovenere. Once the site of a Temple to Venus (Venere in Italian), after whom the town of Portovenere was named, an early Christian building made of black marble was then built there in the 6th century. In the 13th century a campanile and Gothic extension clad in bands of black and white stone were added to the earlier structure. More recently, the church has become famous as an especially popular venue for weddings and attracts both locals and international couples who wish to marry in the former temple to the goddess of love. The Church of San Lorenzo is another famous and beautiful building in the town, located just a little further up the cliffside. A bigger structure, it is also home to many wonderful works of art and a sacred piece of timber that apparently brought important religious relics along with it when it first floated into town.

The Castello Doria, a Genoese fortress built nearby, is yet another architectural gem and also offers stunning views across the sea and surrounding area. One of the highlights of the area, though, has to be the Grotta Byron, a cave where the poet is said to have composed The Corsair. Sadly, it collapsed last century and just a pile of rocks remains but the waters that lap the rocks are still the same he swam to visit his friends, the Shelleys, in Lerici. In addition, there are plenty of great day trips from Portovenere to the Cinque Terre, the naval museums at La Spezia, the pretty towns of Santa Margherita Ligure and Portofino further up the Ligurian coast, San Terenzo in Lerici, which was home to the Shelleys, the Mary Shelley Museum in the castle at San Terenzo and the island of Palmaria just offshore, a marine reserve popular with nature-lovers and swimmers.

This little gem is surely one of the relatively best kept secrets in Italy.