Manarola

A hamlet of Riomaggiore, Manarola is an ancient village on the Ligurian Riviera di Levante and is one of the Cinque Terre.
It is characterized by the typical colorful Genoese tower - houses that face one another on the main street, called via Discovolo, formed by the covering of the waterway. Among the five villages Manarola is the smallest one after Corniglia.

Manarola originated from the displacement of populations that from the Val di Vara and the Roman settlement of Volastra moved towards the sea to exploit its resources. You can't miss the main square, around which stand the Oratory of Disciplinanti, the bell tower and the Church of San Lorenzo, in gothic Genoese style and dating back to 1338.

Among the military architecture there is the castle, which was erected to provide for the protection of the village against the raids of Saracen pirates. Later, the central nucleus of the country developed around it.

BY CAR

• Traveling on the A12 highway, if you are coming from Genoa or Livorno, take the exit towards La Spezia and continue on the SS 370 reaching Manarola.
• Driving along the A15 motorway if you are coming from Parma take the exit for La Spezia and continue on the SS 370 reaching Manarola.

BY PLANE

• Pisa airport
• Genoa airport

In the Christmas period, on the hill overlooking the village, the world's largest light nativity scene is set up, whose characters, crafted by master Mario Andreoli, consist of thousands and thousands of lights mounted on special shapes that give the representation a unique charm in the world and are made of recycled materials (old shutters, plastic, wooden, iron rods).
In addition to the famous nativity scene, during the Easter period, Mario Andreoli created a luminous Via Crucis on the same hill. For the feast of St. Lorenzo, patron of Manarola, in the evening the procession takes place through the streets of the village, with a representation of the saint illuminated with the famous grate.