The Gulf of Poets

The poet Percy Bysshe Shelley described it as a place ‘where music and moonlight and feeling are one…’. Mary Shelley found it bathed ‘in the rich tints of Italian heaven.’ While the coastline’s sweeping curves made DH Lawrence’s blood ‘run with delight’.

Tucked away in Liguria in Italy’s northwest, the Gulf of Poets has long attracted artists, poets and writers. Botticelli, Dante, Byron and Dickens were among those inspired by its beauty.

These days the villages around the Gulf are overshadowed by their better-known neighbours in the Cinque Terre, just over the hills to the west. Most visitors to the region travel the direct La Spezia-Portovenere-Cinque Terre route and bypass the small local communities in between.

The Gulf of Poets (on the right)

The tiny village of Fezzano on the Gulf’s west coast has been our home for the past month or so. Fezzano is close enough for easy day trips to the ‘big attractions’, and small enough for us to have become familiar to the locals.

It’s a great place to while away the summer and, like so many before us, we seem to have fallen just a little bit in love with Il Golfo dei Poeti.

The Church of St Peter sits on a rocky peninsula in Porto Venere, marking the south-western tip of the Gulf

The striking church was completed around 1277, but people had worshipped here much earlier than that; a pagan temple existed on the site in the 5th century

The view from the church is spectacular; looking up the coast towards the Cinque Terre

Porto Venere itself - a settlement has existed here for 2000 years; the town's 12th century defensive system is still visible

The brightly painted tower-houses along the waterfront were the first line of defence; behind them protective walls led up to the castle

The narrow houses were built into the cliff so they all have two entrances - one facing the sea and another (several floors higher) opening to the street behind

In Liguria these medieval pedestrian streets are known as 'carruggi'

In a few places, the carruggi are linked by steep staircased tunnels

Via Capellini, Porto Venere's main street, is lined with shops and restaurants

These days tourism is the town's main industry

And there's no shortage of things to buy

Our favourite lunch spot in Porto Venere

It's become a bit of a program of 'swim, eat, repeat'

Porto Venere is bustling in summer, but if you leave the main part of town and walk up a little higher, the streets are almost deserted

And instead of novelty fridge magnets, you find things like this

San Lorenzo Church (1130)

And La Grotta di Byron - the poet spent time here in 1822

It's said Byron swam across the Gulf to visit the Shelleys who were staying near Lerici on the eastern side (that's a 7.5km swim)

Whether that's true or not, it's a good story

And the grotto itself is beautiful; it's our 'go-to' swimming spot

By late morning in summer, the little bay is filled with boats and swimmers

 

But often, for the first hour or so, we have no company

Apart from this fabulous woman; 'Mater Natura' (Mother Nature), a sculpture by Lello Scorzelli, sits above the grotto overseeing all

There are other places to swim in Porto Venere

Including beaches on the island of Palmaria, just a couple of minutes away by ferry

Generally, though, there's not a lot of sand around so getting in and out of the water requires good balance and rubber-soled footwear!

Porto Venere is the first of 13 communities around the Gulf of Poets

Each one is numbered, starting with Porto Venere at number 1 (Fezzano, our village on the left here, is #3)

There's a large naval base in the Gulf and it's still an important ship-building area; it was that industry that led to the region being heavily bombed in WWII (people still speak of their parents and grandparents running to the shelters at the sound of air raid sirens)

Le Grazie (#2), the next village along from Porto Venere

The villages are connected by a regular bus service and, in summer, by a local ferry

Though the bus trip along the windy coastal road is invariably an interesting experience

Lerici, over on the east coast, is described as the 'Pearl of the Gulf'

It was to this harbour that Percy Bysshe Shelley was returning in 1822 when his boat was hit by a storm and sank; Shelley and two others drowned

 

At the apex of the Gulf sits La Spezia; this is the arrival point for cruise and cargo ships and the starting point for trains and ferries to the Cinque Terre and beyond

The city gives it name to the Gulf - officially it's known as the Gulf of La Spezia

Not all of La Spezia's streets are navigable by car 🙂

Waiting for the bus

Waiting for gelato

There are some really good museums in La Spezia

Including this one, Museo Lia

We spent a couple of happy, air-conditioned hours with these beauties

 

We feel like we're on a little summer holiday here and, just now, there's nowhere we'd rather be