Surrounding, San Fruttuoso di Camogli, Portofino

San Fruttuoso di Camogli - you will be able to reach it by boat or you may walk there from Portofino ( 2 hours one way )
The church is of special beauty and it dates back to 1000 A.D.
For lovely pics and some infos - please have a look on the San Fruttuoso-page of Chiara ( pollon )

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After visiting Portofino itself it was easy to conclude that Paraggi is the most attractive part of it. I really regret for limited time I had for visiting area of Portofino, that is why I didn't take a wlak up to here. The pictures you see I have took from the boat in arriving and departing from Portofino. Maybe some other time, who knows.

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Abbazia della Cervara (Cervara abbey), also known as Abbazia di San Girolamo, is a national monument of Italy. It was built in 1361 by Ottone Lafranco who was a priest at the church of San Stefano in Genova. The monastery was built on a land owned by the Carthusian monks and was dedicated to St. Jerome, but later on Pope Eugene IV transferred ownership to the Benedictians. The monastery became a center for the Flemish arts in Liguria. It was elevated to the rank of abbey in 1546. In late 18th century, during Napoleonic rule over northen parts of Italy, the abbey was suppressed and sacked by the French army.
In 1804 the abbey was acquired by French Trappists but they left it soon in 1811. In 1869 it was acquired by wealthy Genovese noble family Durazzo who donated abbey to the Somaschi fathers (a charitable religious congregation), than it was entrusted again to the French Carthusians and finaly in 1912 was declared a national monument. It is now held privately.
In its long history the abbey hosted many fmous people, such as Pope Gregory IX, Maximilian of Austria, Francis I the king of France, Santa Caterina di Siena, poet Francesco Petrarca.

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I snaped all this pictures from the moving boat and therefore couldn't have steady snaps.
Castello di Paraggi is originally an Middle Ages construction and has belonged to the Fieschi family. Originally the castle was military designed. Since medieval times and later, the castle was used by the Genovese Republic as a defense against the pirates from northern Africa. It is less known that this castle also belonged to the Browns.
Timothy Yeats Brown, originaly of Scotch family, came to Italy following romantic footsteps of the poets Byron and Shelly, and becoming the British consul. One of his sons called Frederick acquired this castle after his marriage and adapted it to use as a luxurious residence.
Today the castle is private property.

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I have noticed so many ugly and poor houses on the hills above the port of Portofino, they say the price list starting from 500.000€ up. Large cup of ice-cream cost about half of that price in the local cafe. I am still feeling dizzy when remembering how much have pay for two (2) espresso and water.
I am joking about the houses, of course, there are so many attractive villas all around and some of them looking alike small castles. But still, prices of the houses are still much too high. Maybe it's the way rich people keeping the distance, not allowing ordinary people to live in such places as Portofino is.