High above the sea, among woods and vineyards, there is a very suggestive village which is almost scary. Isolated, almost uninhabited, reaching it is not easy. A fear village
2 RESIDENTS, THOUSAND STEPS (without handrail) to get to the sea: the most FEARED town in Italy
# The village “high above the sea” with only 2 residents
Hidden in one of the most beautiful Italian coastal areas, there is a small Liguria village even if it’s not highly touristic mission: in fact, there are not many who go to visit it. It’s called Monesteroli and it is located west of Campiglia Tramonti, in La Spezia province.
It is inside of the Cinque Terre National Park , but unlike the other nearby villages it is not very busy. On the contrary, here, besides not having tourists there are almost no residents either. In fact, Monesteroli has only 2 inhabitants, left alone in an ghost-like town, which has only a few abandoned houses. Once in the village there were wineries where the grapes were processed, but today this activity has been abandoned too, and some of these wineries have been converted into holiday homes for the brave tourists who decide to reach Monesteroli. And courage is the constant for those who venture to this place. Because the village is located “on the sea”, literally. And getting there is not easy at all.
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# The “Grand Stairway”: tight and without handrails to get to the sea
Not only the fact of being a ghost town that makes Monesteroli not particularly attractive. The village is the point of destination, or the starting point of a very suggestive path, but which frightens anyone who walks along it.
It is the so called Scalinata Grande (Grand Stairway), 1200 very steep steps, to be walked with great attention because there is no railing. The path wanders among vineyards and stretches high above the sea, but there are some parts where one must be very careful, because the steps get narrower. This stepped path has a very long history, it was once walked by farmers with baskets on their shoulders. Strange that it has never been made safer, but maybe that’s just the particular nature of the path.
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# “Monesteroli is a place between reality and fantasy”
Monesteroli is a part of the “Luoghi del Cuore” from FAI, a foundation that looks for and discovers villages to be restored. This Foundation describes Monesteroli as “A unique village overlooking the blue sea, on the border between reality and fantasy. Only the sound of nature, wind and the waves break the silence in this magical village, held on the rock, on the edge of the sea”.
A very suggestive village, but as beautiful as it evokes a bit of fear. If you look at the other side of the coin: after struggling to survive the stairs, you arrive in a ghost-like town, where silence reigns. And you enjoy the view of the sea, which from Monesteroli is spectacular
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LAURA LIONTI
(Original article by Beatrice Barazzetti)
