Cinque Terre National Park is a naturalistic oasis which
preserved the features of an uncontaminated nature. The landscape,
formed by rocks of different origin and age, is marked by a particular
steepness and by the lack of plain stretches.
The coast, high and
jagged, is linear, with a few inlets and promontories, dug by the sea
in suggestive caves. There are a few sandy and pebbly beaches which are
the result of the detritus of the watercourses, of landslides, or of
accumulation of materials left by man.
Cinque Terre National Park is also the habitat for several faunistic species which find here the ideal conditions to live and reproduce.
Further information (Italian text)
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With the name Cinque Terre we mean the 15 km stretch of overhanging
coast along the litoral of the eastern part of Liguria. The name Cinque
Terre comes from the sea towns of Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia,
Manarola, and Riomaggiore, which are situated at the same distance one
from the other, clutched at the rock and hidden into narrow and steep
valleys; the name of "terra" (earth) is here synonym of quarter in the
medieval sense. Human activities contributed to create a unique
landscape which is the expression of a culture deeply linked to the
place it belongs to: a collective experience able to master the
adversities of the natural environment to the needs of the population.
In about one thousand years of history man replaced the originary woods
which covered the steep mountain slopes with the cultivation of
vineyards in terraces, made possible through the shattering of the
rock, the creation of dry-stone walls and of cultivable humus.
From the first century to the Low Middle Ages up to present days, the
struggle between nature and man has been continuous and it has led to
the shaping of the landscape by man through its reconstruction after
every landslide caused by the rain: the good quality of the stones and
the ability to build dry-stone walls guarantee a greater resistance to
the falls.
Among the terraces there are very long and steep stairs built from the
walls, places where to lean the materials carried on the shoulders,
small canals at the side of the mule tracks.
The colossal work has been carried out thanks to the free initiative of
more than one generation, and it has been handed down only through the
will to make productive an area which otherwise was not possible to
cultivate. The farmer of the Cinque Terre has not only been the
producer of the precious wine for centuries, but above all he has been
the cause of the hydrogeological stability of a landscape which has
been recognized as world heritage.
The maintenance of the territory and the defense of its features are
entrusted to the operations linked to the cultivation: degradation
immediately follows the abandonment of the places by man.
The terracing has been carried out by the population of the Cinque
Terre since the year 1000 with productive aims, and it has led to
effects which overcame the originary aim, such as:
- the hydrogeologic stability of the slopes and of the villages lying underneath
- the connotation of the landscape.
The
recently changed economic and social balance influenced the territory
because of the abandonment of the traditional cultivations which led to
the safeguard of the area.
This process has become irreversible; the consequence will be the fast soil degradation leading to:
- increasing landslides menacing the towns;
- the impossibility to exploit wide sections of territory;
- the change of the landscape features.
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