HISTORY OF RIOMAGGIORE:
According to legend, the village of Riomaggiore was settled in the 8th century, when a group of Greek refugees, to escape the persecutions of the Byzantine Emperor Leo III the Isaurian, arrived in the area, on the shores of the Ligurian Sea. Read More [...]
However, the first documented information about Riomaggiore dates back to 1251, when the local people gathered to swear loyalty to the Republic of Genoa in the war against Pisa. In 1276, Riomaggiore was sold by the Fieschi family to Genoa, together with the other villages of Cinque Terre and most of the Ligurian Levant.
With the domination of Napoleon Bonaparte, Riomaggiore was annexed to the First French Empire on June 13, 1805. In 1815, it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Sardinia, as established by the Congress of Vienna in 1814, and subsequently in the Kingdom of Italy, starting with 1861.
GEOGRAPHY OF RIOMAGGIORE:
Today, Riomaggiore is a village of about 1,500 inhabitants in the province of La Spezia, part of the Italian region of Liguria. Riomaggiore is the southernmost village of the Cinque Terre National Park, a protected area recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997. Read More [...]
Its historical center is located in the Rio Maggiore Valley, from which the village takes its name. The Valley of Rio Maggiore is surmounted by Mount Verugola, whose three peaks, depicted in the municipal coat of arms, have always been the symbol of the town.
Riomaggiore is located 16 kilometers southeast of Vernazza, 12 kilometers northwest of La Spezia, 95 kilometers northwest of Pisa, 100 kilometers southeast of Portofino and about the same distance of Camogli, 120 kilometers southeast of Genoa, 165 kilometers northwest of Florence, 225 kilometers west of Bologna, 245 kilometers south of Milan, 255 kilometers southeast of Turin, 325 kilometers southwest of Venice, and about 410 kilometers northwest of Rome.
TRANSPORT TO RIOMAGGIORE:
The closest airports are the Galileo Galilei International Airport, the main airport of Tuscany, located about 95 kilometers to the south, in Pisa, and the Cristoforo Colombo International Airport, located about the same distance to the north, in Genoa. Read More [...]
You can get to Riomaggiore by train, coming from La Spezia, from the south, or from Genoa, from the north. From La Spezia, a train ticket costs 2.70€ during the off-season and 5.00€ during the high-season, and the trip takes about 10 minutes. From Genoa, the cheapest ticket costs 8.50€ and the trip takes about one hour and a half.
If you plan to see all the villages of Cinque Terre during the high season (from April 1st to November 6th), you should consider buying the Cinque Terre Train Card, which gives you access to the hiking trails in the area, together with unlimited train trips on the Cinque Terre Express trains on the Levanto - Cinque Terre - La Spezia line. The card costs 18.20€ for 1 day, 33.00€ for 2 days, and 47.00€ for 3 days. During the off-season, the hiking trails are free, and the train tickets are cheaper.
TOURIST ATTRACTIONS IN RIOMAGGIORE:
In Riomaggiore, you can visit the Church of San Giovanni Battista and the Castle of Riomaggiore, but most likely you will spend the time walking along the small streets of the town or relaxing in the picturesque marina.
