The timeless charm of Montemarcello

The name of the stretch of coastline that runs from Portovenere to Lerici and ends at the cliffs of Punta Bianca – coined by the playwright Sem Benelli in 1910 – is associated with the poets (Shelley, Byron, Petrarch, Montale and various others) who were captivated by the wild beauty of this natural amphitheatre, enhanced by the colours of the ancient villages overlooking it. The last of these villages, the furthest from La Spezia and the closest to Marina di Carrara, is Montemarcello, a hamlet of Ameglia in the heart of the promontory that forms the Regional Nature Park of the same name. It owes its origins to the Roman consul Marcus Claudius Marcellus; indeed, the village’s layout resembles that of a castrum, and in medieval times it served as a defensive stronghold and strategic observation post, clear traces of which remain near the Batteria Generale Chiodo (where you can also enjoy lunch or dinner at a traditional inn). Montemarcello is part of the ‘Most Beautiful Villages in Italia’ circuit, and simply strolling through its narrow streets, flanked by stone buildings, small squares (in the main square, a stop at the Bistrot delle Ragazze is highly recommended) and ancient walls, with floral decorations everywhere and views stretching across the Gulf of the Poets on one side and the Apuan Alps on the other, to understand why. To understand the close relationship between the landscape and the art of writing, however, one should walk along the ‘Strada Poetica’, a narrow alleyway that winds down from the village towards Punta Corvo, a black-sand beach currently inaccessible due to a landslide, accompanying visitors’ journey with verses and quotations from the poets and writers who found inspiration here.

Montemarcello