17.8.15

Portofino


One of the most famous villages on the Liguria coast, the Italian Riviera, is Portofino, not easy to reach on some narrow roads, especially at the end. Awaiting a free parking place, the last kilometer took about an hour.

Once you are there, however, you realize clearly that it was worth a bit of patience and another good thing is that the place is not too crowded, probably due to the difficulty of reaching it.

Originally a little fishing village, but following some 19th century aristocratic tourism, today Portofino has its reputation linked to a number of celebrity and artistic visitors and part-time residents.

Its name seems originally to have been Portus Delphini, the port of the dolphins (we didn’t see any).

The little port is surrounded by colourful buildings (with a number of bars and restaurants).

On the top of a hill is an old castle, Castello Brown, which got its name from some later owners, but since has become property of the village. It houses today a little museum and offers some splendid views (see also top picture).







Not much space in the port, but there were some nice yachts (all of course registered in George Town, Cayman Islands). The owner of one of them enjoyed the sun.

Walking up to the (originally) 12th century San Giorgio church and its cemetery, you have some splendid views over the coastline.




5 comments:

Jilly said...

Lovely to see this article and great photos, Peter. I'm going to Portofino in September so this makes me look forward to it even more, especially as someone else will be doing the driving ... and the parking!

Anonymous said...


Lindo lugar y lindas fotos.
Gracias mil.
Maria

Ola said...

so famous! a holiday paradise:)

Anonymous said...


I am looking at your magnificent photos...this time more carefully...
I was curious about one photo. At the beggining I could not tell what it was about.
When I enlarged it I could see it was the photo of a Columbarium.
When I was a child I was fascinated by them......
Even though I grew up in South America, I was so privileged to do it in a country with such a strong European culture.
Thanks again,
Maria

Jule's Short Story said...

Lovely photos of a place I really enjoyed. The ferry trip from Genova is a treat too. Next visit I'll allow more time to explore, thanks for sharing!
Jules