Riomaggiore

From the station a pedestrian tunnel leads into the village; for the Marina, take the stairs down under the tracks. The harbour is a small inlet closed in by tall, narrow houses, with a slipway where the boats are hauled out. Under the oldest houses runs an arcaded loggia that supports the original core of the village.

The best time is sunset, when the light hits the façades. For the classic photo, walk up to the left along Via San Giacomo, one of the spots where Signorini set up his easel. Higher up, at the top of a stairway towards the castle, is the Pidapünta, a small viewpoint square that few visitors find.

Via Colombo is the main street. It runs up the valley over the covered stream, lined with focaccia shops, small stores and bars. Look up at the tower houses: many have a second entrance higher up at the back, called uservàn. It let families get in and out during storms or when the stream was in flood.

On the way up you pass the Town Hall, its façade covered by a large mural by the Argentine artist Silvio Benedetto, who worked for years with the Cinque Terre National Park. The figures tell the story of local working life between the sea, the boats and the vineyards.

The parish church stands in the upper village. Work began in 1340 on the orders of Antonio Fieschi, bishop of Luni, as an inscription records. In 1870 the church was lengthened and given a neo-Gothic façade, but the original rose window was put back in place. Check the right-hand side: it keeps two Gothic doorways carved with animals and human figures.

Inside, under pointed arches, there is a wooden crucifix attributed to Anton Maria Maragliano, a Preaching of the Baptist attributed to Domenico Fiasella and a marble pulpit. The square in front looks out over the rooftops: Signorini probably painted his Roofs in Riomaggiore, now in Florence’s Palazzo Pitti, from here. The patron saint’s feast is on 24 June.

On the hill above the village, a few minutes’ walk from the church, stands the castle built by the Turcotti around 1260 and completed by the Genoese in the 15th and 16th centuries. The square outline, the walls and two round towers survive. Under Napoleon it was filled with earth and used as a cemetery; today it hosts exhibitions and cultural events. Even if it’s closed, walk up: the view over the sea and the houses is one of the best in the village.

Next to it is the Oratory of San Rocco, built in 1480 after a plague outbreak. On the lintel, the saint shows the marks of the disease.

Among the stairways of the old town are two small buildings most visitors walk past. The Oratory of Sant’Antonio Abate, in the lane of the same name, dates from the 13th century and is the oldest church in Riomaggiore. The Oratory of the Disciplinati, also called dell’Assunta, holds a 15th-century triptych of the Madonna and Child with Saints John and Dominic and a wooden statue known as the Madonna of the Chains, linked to the pirate raids. Opening times are irregular: if the door is open, go in.

About 340 metres above the village, on a plateau among the pines, sits the sanctuary the locals love most. Tradition tells of an icon hidden from the Lombards and found again beside a spring; the first record dates from 1335, and today’s building is the result of works in 1740 and 1847. The square in front is the best viewpoint over Riomaggiore and the whole Cinque Terre coast.

From the village it’s about an hour on foot up the stairway of trail 593V. Routes, times, the bus option and what to see at the top are in our guide to the Montenero sanctuary hike.