Once upon a time… The Fairy Tales of the Cinque Terre

The beauty of the Cinque Terre is enriched by ancient legends that add to its undeniable charm. In a land that celebrates the harmony between nature and humanity, where imagination becomes reality, a thread of magic weaves its way through history. So, let us uncover five mysterious tales where the sacred intertwines with the profane, carefully guarded between the mountains and the Ligurian Sea.

The Moon of Riomaggiore

This Fairy Tale tells us of a great ambitious project of the entire community of Riomaggiore, which then collapsed in every sense because it was unfeasible.

That distant night, the moon was full and so beautiful that it could move even the most insensitive heart. Its light illuminated the sea, the interiors of the houses, and even the most hidden alleys.
Amazed by such a spectacle, all the inhabitants of Riomaggiore gathered in the castle square. They had to do something. They decided that this irresistible moon must be theirs. Since it seemed so close, almost within reach, they devised a plan: they would build a ladder that reached the sky, grab the moon, and keep it in the village.

But ordinary ladders were not long enough, so they came up with a clever idea: they built a tower from the numerous barrels they used to store the wine produced there. However, the height they reached was still not sufficient. They were just one barrel short of reaching the moon, but they didn’t have another.
Desperate yet determined, they replaced the bottom barrel with the strong backs of men who would support the tower and placed the last wooden container on top.

But the weight was too much for the men to bear. Their muscles and nerves gave out, and exhaustion overcame them.
The tower collapsed, and with it, the dream of possessing the moon vanished.

The Bells of Volastra

This is one of our favourite stories because it tells a piece of history about the Saracen invasions and because it leaves us with a very intriguing doubt.

Between Manarola and Corniglia lies the village of Volastra, a small jewel nestled on the hillside, renowned for its production of oil and wine. The local inhabitants, despite the difficulty—since road connections long ago were quite rudimentary—would carry the fruits of their land to the ports of Manarola and Vernazza, from where they would be transported by sea throughout the Mediterranean. Life in the village was joyful and peaceful until the day the Saracens landed on the coast around the year 1000.

Terrified by the imminent attack, the villagers decided to secure the town’s most precious treasure: the church bells, made of a golden and silver alloy. In a hurry, they buried the bells in a pit they dug with their bare hands, along with the savings of all the local families. The pirates arrived, and finding nothing of value to plunder, they razed the village, killed many citizens, and took others as prisoners.

Years later, when the village had managed to recover and forget the horrors it had suffered, an elderly man arrived, speaking Italian heavily influenced by Arabic. He introduced himself to the community as a survivor of the Saracen attack and recounted that terrible story in person, without omitting the detail of the buried treasure, which he wanted to retrieve. He planned a search for the hidden treasure with the locals for the next day, but that very night, the old man died without revealing its location. And no one ever found it.
It is said that during stormy nights, you can still hear the buried bells ringing from Manarola and Corniglia.

Corniglia and the Fieschi Cake

A legend about very important historical figures

Perched on a hill and suspended over the sea, the village of Corniglia was chosen around the year 1200 as the ideal location to celebrate an important wedding: that of Count Opizzo Fiesco, a representative of the powerful Fieschi family that controlled the area, and the noblewoman Bianca dei Bianchi from Siena.

The breathtaking panorama amazed the many guests at the wedding feast, who, entertained by musicians and jesters, delighted in dancing and savoring every delicacy. The banquet was rich in exquisite food accompanied by excellent local wine. Finally, the cake arrived, and the guests were once again astonished. Its size was so extraordinary that it could be offered generously to all the inhabitants of the village. And so it was.

Tradition holds that every June 29th, the day when Corniglia’s patron saint, St. Peter, is celebrated, the locals, during a medieval-themed festival that enlivens and colors the entire village, offer guests from all over the world a slice of cake in memory of that ancient wedding.

Vernazza and the Relics of Saint Margaret

Here is the legend of one of the most beautiful churches in the Cinque Terre

In a distant past, on the shores of Vernazza, the inhabitants found a small wooden box; curious about the gift brought by the sea, they decided to open it to discover its contents.
As soon as they lifted the lid, they were astonished by what they saw: the bones of a finger of Saint Margaret of Antioch.

The locals were well aware of the story of the Christian martyr and, reverent toward that sacred gift, decided to honor it by building a church dedicated to her in the neighborhood called Isolotto—far from where the box was found—and it would house the relic.
However, a powerful storm washed away the box, which, a few days later, was found in the same spot where it had been discovered the first time.

The inhabitants realized that the saint was indicating the precise location where they should build the temple dedicated to her, right by the sea, guarded by the mountain. So, they constructed the picturesque church that still dominates the small harbor.
Saint Margaret of Antioch is the patron saint of Vernazza, and with devotion, she is celebrated every year on July 20th.

The Sanctuary of Soviore

This is also one of the religion-related fairy tales that take us to magnificent places in the Cinque Terre

It is said that long ago, the inhabitants of a small village along the slopes of Mount Soviore were victims of Lombard raids. Forced to abandon their homes and the fields they cultivated with dedication, they decided not to leave the invaders the most precious thing they had: a wooden sculpture depicting a Pietà. To protect it, they buried it underground, then moved to the foot of the mountain by the sea, founding the village of Monterosso.

Years later, the grandchildren of the town’s founders rediscovered the sculpture in the place indicated by their grandparents and prepared to transfer it to Monterosso. But after admiring its beauty, the sculpture suddenly disappeared. Astonished by its sudden disappearance, they were even more amazed to see that the sculpture had reappeared atop a chestnut tree.

Convinced that this was a clear sacred sign, they built a chapel dedicated to the Madonna in that very spot, from which the oldest Marian sanctuary in Liguria, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Soviore, developed, which is now a destination for pilgrimages and excursions.

Author: Carlotta Bonsegna

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The illustrations have been made with AI, therefore they may contain inaccuracies about the locations of the Cinque Terre.