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 Geologically,
the landscape was created by a series of
folds which were formed when the rocks
were pushed, raised and pressed together
in the Tertiary period. Millions of years
of erosion have slowly given shape to
countless small peninsulars and bays
between Punnet Corvo (Montenero) and
Punnet Mesco. Here, five villages Riomaggiore,
Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza
and Monterosso make up the Cinque
Terre. Over the years, the people have
succeeded in imposing their will on this
difficult landscape through terrace
cultivation consisting of narrow strips
of land on the hillside called "fasce".
Perhaps it is the air made salty by the
sea spray on stormy days, together with
the hard work that the farmers have been
carrying out for hundreds of years, that
have made the grapes so sweet and the
olives and lemons so tasty. We know, from
archeological findings, that man has
inhabited this stretch of coastline from
very early times. Jewellery and decorated
shells are some of the traces left behind
by prehistoric man. The ancient "Strada
Etrusca" was brought back into use
by the Romans, bringing both trade and
commerce to the Cinque Terre, but it was
abandoned again during the rule of the
"Repubblica di Genova". It is
probably because the road was abandoned
again that the area has preserved all its
natural and untouched beauty. Man has had
to build countless walls "muretti"
and steps to support the steep strips of
land, and from research carried out by
naturalists it seems that, over thousands
of years, the inhabitants of the Cinque
Terre have carried out an enormous task
in constructing and repairing these
famous "muretti". So much so
that the two-metre-high, eleven -
thousand kilometer
- long network of walls is comparable
to the Great Wall of China. Even
nowadays, it is not easy to reach the
five villages, either by train or along
the winding roads. But, perhaps, this
is the surest guarantee for the
preservation of this unique landscape.
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