Corniglia Things to Do

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A friend took us to this small establishment, Enoteca Il Pirun, in Corniglia, IT. The owner was an incredibly friendly local man who treated us all as old friends. We tasted a number of different wines, all taken from the "wine bong". Each wine was accompanied with some small snack and available for us to purchase from his store. We spent a very enjoyable afternoon at the Enoteca Il Pirun and I highly recommend stopping by to anyone visiting Corniglia or the Cinque Terre.

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The highlight of a trip to the Cinque Terre is a hike between the 5 villages. The distance from Riomaggiore to Monterosso al Mare is 12kms, and a lot of the trail is steep and rocky.

The walk from Riomaggiore to Manarola is the easiest. It is paved all the way, and the hardest part is probably the flight of stairs from the station at Riomaggiore up to the start of the path. Other than that the path is fairly flat and suitable for prams and high heels. This section of the trail is called the Lovers Lane. The walk from Riomaggiore to Manarola is 1km long and takes about 15-20 minutes, depending on how long you stop to gaze at the view!

The next section of the walk is from Manarola to Corniglia. This section is 3km long and takes about 1 hour. Parts of this trail are again pretty easy, but it is steeper and at times the ground is uneven under foot. The most exhausting part of this section is at the end, once you arrive at Corniglia train station. The station is located at the bottom of the hill, by the ocean, but the town of Corniglia is located on top of the hill....and there are approx 365 stairs to climb up to get up to the village!!

My favourite part of the hike is the section between Corniglia and Vernazza. This is the most scenic part, through varied landscapes - you walk through olive groves and forest, and then along the cliff edge, with spectacular views coming into Vernazza. This section is 4km long and takes about 1.5 hours to complete, though we found ourselves stopping quite a bit to admire the views - not because we were tired or anything ; )

The section between Vernazza and Monterosso is the most difficult. It is 4kms long and has lots of ups and downs and steep stairs. It is little less scenic than the others, but you do get a good view of some of the local vineyards. The beauty of Monterosso makes up for it all, plus the availability of a gelato or refreshing vino bianco at one of the many bars helps to ease those weary legs!!

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The Parish Church of San Pietro stands above the main part of the village; appearing to look down on the scene below. It is considered quite unusual for the region in terms of its architectural style, which is a mixture of Gothic and Baroque. Apparently the local nobility, the Fieschi family, who commissioned the building of the church in the mid 14th century, stipulated that it be in the Gothic style, but somehow it turned out to be closer to Baroque. The exterior, with its rose window in white marble (dating back to 1351) is reminiscent of the churches we saw elsewhere such as Riomaggiore and Monterosso, but the interior is lighter and more airy than other of the Cinque Terre churches we visited. It has the three-nave Basilica plan so popular in Italy, covered by a barrel vault, and a 12th century baptismal font.

Back outside look up above the main door to see this carving of Saint Peter with two kneeling figures. It clearly is Saint Peter – after all, the church is dedicated to him, and he holds the keys to the kingdom. Yet as far as I can make out the only name in the inscription is that of “Leonardi”. I found myself wondering who this Leonardi was and why his name should be here, but I haven’t so far been able to find an answer to that question.

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At the end of town, i.e. the end of Via Fieschi, you will come to the Santa Maria Belvedere, which takes its name from a church that once stood on this spot. From here there are sweeping views of the coast. It is possible to see all of the other four Cinque Terre villages from here – Vernazza and Monterosso to the north, as in my photo, and Manarola and Riomaggiore to the south. Looking inland, to the west, you can see the village of San Bernadino high on a ridge, surrounded by the characteristic Cinque Terre vineyards.

For more good views of these vineyards take the small road signposted from Via Fieschi to the marina. You’ll come to a viewpoint over a narrow inlet with the marina itself almost directly below you and steep terraced hills opposite. Photo 2 was taken here.

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The eighteenth century Oratorio di Santa Caterina looks down on the Largo Taragio from a raised area to one side of the square. It looks like a church, and indeed we took it to be one, but is actually as the name suggests an oratory – the distinction apparently being that it serves as a spiritual meeting place for the various local groups affiliated with the Catholic Church but is not an actual place of worship. I really liked the ceiling above the altar painted just like the sky (photo 2), as well as this eye-catching painting beneath the central dome.

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The heart of Corniglia is its main square, the Largo Taragio. Here a number of cafés have set tables under the trees and compete for customers among the many visitors. We had a delicious spumente limone at one of them – so refreshing after that hot climb. In the centre of the square is an old well, once the main source of water for the town, pumped from natural springs. There is also a war memorial and this more modern statue, which I really liked.

The arch in the photo was iinteresting, but easy to pass by without inspection. It's on the Via Fieschi, just off the main square (Largo Taragio).

Purely a guess, but the marble slab suggests this is a place where fish (maybe meat, but fish is far more likely) was/is sold. A very functional piece of architecture and (I suspect) pretty old. It's layout is almost exactly the same as the 'shops' in Pompeii. Ostia antica and so on althogh it is clearly not Roman. But if a layout works, why change it?

Some of the best long range and scenic views are from the trail towards Vernazza. To get to the best viewpoints plan on at least hiking a good 15 minutes into the trail. If you are hiking the entire trail be sure to look back a few times or you will miss these views as about 20 to 30 minutes into the trail, Corniglia will pass out of sight. While this village may not be the most picturesque of all the villages, its one of the only villages where you can get great views of the terracing and the town together.