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Stemma di Riomaggiore

Liguria · La Spezia

Riomaggiore

The easternmost of the five villages, 1,326 people stacked above a fishing inlet, terraced vineyards climbing 250 meters straight off the sea.

Known for

  • SCIACCHETRÀ

    Sweet passito wine from sun-dried Bosco, Albarola and Vermentino grapes, made on the terraces above the village since antiquity.

  • VIA DELL'AMORE

    Cliff-cut footpath to Manarola, closed in 2012 after rockfalls, reopened in July 2024 with a new fee and timed access.

  • UNESCO 1997

    Inscribed with Portovenere and the Cinque Terre as a cultural landscape of stone terraces shaped by a thousand years of farming.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

  • J
  • F
  • M
  • A
  • M
  • J
  • J
  • A
  • S
  • O
  • N
  • D
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

The festa: Giovanni Battista, 24 June

Why come

The village sits at the eastern end of the coastal line running out of La Spezia, first among the five reached along that route. It is documented from 1251, when the Carpena district swore allegiance to Genoa. The castle went up first, begun in 1260 against pirate raids; the church followed in 1340 under Bishop Antonio Fieschi, its neo-Gothic front a much later addition from 1870, with a Maragliano crucifix still inside.

The terraces above the rooftops are older than either building in continuous use, cut into the slope and worked without interruption long enough that the wine they produce carries the name of the method itself. The built village is compact: castle and church above, the narrow harbour below at the water's edge, boats hauled onto the slipway between the breakwaters. Pixar set Luca here in 2021, lightly disguised as Portorosso.

Roughly 2. 5 million annual visitors now reach a commune of 1,326 residents, a ratio that says as much about the place as any single monument: a fishing settlement of one street and one slipway, built to hold far fewer people than now pass through it, sized against a public many times its own population.

We've been

Feature from our free newsletter

Cinque Terre | How To Do It Right

The Cinque Terre are five towns with a national park around them and a marketing name that adds up to five. The copies without the name are a few miles away in either direction, and the experience they sell is the same experience, with the crowd divided by a hundred.

From the Riomaggiore letter, July 2026

Read the full feature on anywhereitaly.com

Riomaggiore — photo 1
Riomaggiore — photo 2

What to see

  • Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista

    Built in 1340 under Bishop Antonio Fieschi, rebuilt with a neo-Gothic façade in 1870, holds a wooden crucifix by Anton Maria Maragliano.

  • Castello di Riomaggiore

    Begun in 1260 by the Marchesi Turcotti against pirate raids, completed by Genoa two centuries later, twin cylindrical towers above the village.

  • Via dell'Amore

    The path clings to the cliff face between two villages, the sea directly below and the rock wall pressing close on the other side.

  • Cinque Terre vineyard terraces

    Dry-stone terraces that drop 250 meters from village edge to sea, hand-cultivated for Sciacchetrà and Cinque Terre DOC.

  • Marina di Riomaggiore

    The narrow harbour at the foot of the village, fishing boats hauled onto the slipway between the breakwaters.

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We recommend

Where to eat

Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.

  • Rio BistrotRistorante

    One Gambero Rosso fork (77/100) for Rio Bistrot, and a spot in the Michelin Guide.

  • Fuori RottaRistorante

    Fuori Rotta has a spot in the Michelin Guide to its name.

Living here

  • Population 1,326
  • Commuter belti
  • Pharmacy in town
  • Nearest high school over ~30 minutes away
  • Nearest airport Florence / Pisa, 2 h 23 min drive
  • Regional capital Genova, 2 h 27 min drive
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 35 m
  • Population: 1,326
  • Surface area: 10.27 km²

These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

Close by

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