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In
order to appreciate the exceptional beauty of Portofino you need to see it
from the square in front of the church of San Giorgio on the lighthouse
promontory: from this position you have a splendid overview of the port
and the row of coloured houses with their typical decorations. Portofino
lies in a bay whose natural shelter is provided both by its shape and by
Monte Portofino itself, which looks over the sea from a height of 600
metres and forms a three-kilometre ridge ending to the east at Punta del
Capo. This favourable natural position attracted very early human
settlement, and we learn from Pliny that "Portus Delphini" was
already known in Roman times. After being under the dominion of the Abbey
of San Fruttuoso for almost two centuries, it was taken into the Republic
of Genoa in the twelfth century. The Republic built a fortress there in
the seventeenth century which is now known as Castello Brown, after the
British Consul who bought it in 1870. The church of San Martino stands in
the oldest part of the town and dates back to the twelfth century, while
the Oratorio dell'Assunta was built in the fourteenth century.
The tourist harbour can berth up to 300 boats and has hosted the most
prestigious leisure craft in the world, since it attracts the most
exclusive type of tourists. So many of the most famous names of
twentieth-century history and art have visited Portofino that even a
partial list of names would be difficult to draw up. All kinds of sea
sports can be practised here, especially sailing and windsurfing. The reef
is a paradise for divers: certain parts are extremely interesting, such as
Punta del Faro and the wreck of the "Mohawk Deer". The Portofino
Diving Centre is open all year round. The Mediterranean vegetation of
Monte di Portofino Natural Park is another favourite tourist spot: the
pines and olive trees stretch right down to the sea, alternating with a
variety of shrubs and bushes such as gorse, thyme, erica, myrtle,
saxifrage and strawberry trees. However, botanists have so far identified
over seven hundred species, and their work is not yet finished. As you go
towards the mountain the excursions become a little more arduous, although
the park itself is crossed by a network of hillside paths that are very
easy to walk along.
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