Travel-Corniglia TB02

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Corniglia (pron. Cornelia) is one of five (cinque) villages in The Cinque Terre region of Liguria, in northwestern Italy.  Unlike the other villages, Corniglia is not on the sea.  Instead, it is on the top of a promontory about 300 feet high, surrounded on three sides by terraces on which are grown grapes and olives.  The fourth side descends steeply to the sea but there is no place for the passenger boats that serve the other villages to land. To reach Corniglia from the train station, it is necessary to climb the Lardarina, a long brick flight of steps composed of 33 flights with 382 steps.  There is also a longer vehicular road that can be followed and, occasionally, there is a small bus runs up and down the road.

The five villages of the Cinque Terre are Corniglia, Monterosso, Vernazza, Manarola and Riomaggiore. Historically the region supported itself with grapes, olives and fishing.  However tourism might now be the largest contributor to the local economy.  The food, walking paths and views are wonderful.  But this has come at a cost because some of the terraces were neglected in favor of the easier tourist dollar.  As a consequence two of the towns were nearly destroyed by a high-intensity rain and massive mudslides.  The damage in Corniglia was minor.