Took ferry to Monterosso, stopping at all Cinque Terra towns on the way to check out statue of Neptune carved into the rocks & a couple of churches.
The Italian designer shop had a 50% sale on the way- bummer, the Armani pants fitted!
Engineer Levacher & the artist Arrigo Minerbi collaborated in 1910 on a 14 metre concrete statue of Neptune bearing an enormous shell on his shoulder, originally used as a stage - you wouldnt want to get your dance steps wrong! It now holds pot plants.
Built on a cliff face above the shoreline, it was damaged during WW2, suffering further damage in the wild seas & big floods of 1966. It is now partially renovated & connected to a beautifully restored stone home in pole position at Monterosso.
Some impressive ruins of the old medieval castle remain, as do 2 churches outlined in the guidebooks, one a baroque style oratory with depressing skull carvings in the original seats representing Death. The other a bit more uplifting made of layers of white and black marble with a beautiful tracery window.
The big find was the simple, small Chiesina di Santa Maria Nascente towards the sculpture of Neptune.
Salvaged from ruin in the 1950's by a family to turn it into a villa, nothing happened and in 1961 or was snapped up by one Gino de Andreis to restore it as a church. He added a neat loft above the front door to fit more people in, then commissioned the famous Genoan artist Emmanuele Luzzati ( died 2007) to create a statue for each of the empty niches either side of the front door.
St Andrew, patron saint of his family on the left, St Domenico patron saint of his mother's forbears.
They are both stunning - ceramic, modern, their robes depicting each Saints lives and miracles.
It is not a museum - doors are open, Mass celebrated every Sunday. Truly worth a visit. See pics.
Cultured out, with people stacked like sardines on their beach beds we headed for a lunch of ripe rock melon & parma ham, & checked out the shops. One had fantastic local ceramic art, another gallery had exciting black & white photography of a local artist, and the other had wonderful handmade leather sandals. Tempted by the latter, but resisted!
A few spits of rain cleared the beaches, we trained it to Conniglia, a bit of a hidden gem, but the never ending switch-back staircase of steps to it surely a deterrent. Then 2 train stops to Riomaggiore for sunset campari soda, glass of wine, plate of cheese & live local music at our favourite bar overlooking the sea.