In 2011, Cinque Terre had a terrible flood and the towns of Vernazza and Monterosso were especially devastated. When there is a lot of rain now, the country has some precautions in place. If the warning system goes to “orange,” groups are not permitted to visit, and even certain train tickets are not sold to individuals who want to spend the day. If evacuation is necessary, the a successful evacuation is more likely if there are fewer people to move.
Today was an orange alert day. This diverted our planned hike between Cornelgia and Manarosa.
So we went were the rain does not fall: inside the mountain tunnels.
(The spelunking title is more than a slight exaggeration; I do confess. However, the term spelunking is derived from the Latin word spelunca, meaning cave, and the tunnels did feel very cave like at times.)
We were bused to the La Spezia train station. Le Spezia, the second largest city in Liguria, has a strategically important location and is the home of the naval base and numerous ship yards. This history goes back hundreds of years to when it was under the control of Genoa. During WWII it was under control of the Germans and Mussolini, so the allies bombed it. The newer part of the city is not very charming, but there are some older buildings near the train station that make a nice neighborhood.
The plan for the day was to start three towns north of Cinque Terre, walk to and through the second and end up at a third, where we would take a train back to La Spezia.
The furthest town for us is called Framura. Really, it was just a train station. All the people who live there are higher in the mountains and very isolated into just four little hamlets.
The trick of the day, and where I am jesting in calling it spelunking, is that most of our hike was through old train tunnels.
The first rail line in this area, not build until the early 1870s, was to get people and materials between Turin, Genoa and La Spezia, which was the naval base. The train line had to be built from the sea, so the rail was very close to the coast. Eventually the line was rebuilt further inland once technology got better, and this made the rail more stable.
The old train line and tunnels still exist though. They have been converted into a rail trail! So we walked the tunnels from town to town, staying pretty dry all day!
Every so often the tunnel had a window open and we could look out to the sea below:
One house, perched on a cliff, has special permission to use the tunnel as an evacuation route in case of a flood or landslide.
When we reached the second town, Bonassola, it was dry enough to eat sandwiches outside. This is a bigger town, and really very pretty. It has a nice beach and we passed a gated garden that was lovely.
Then back into the tunnel for a walk to Levanto, the biggest town yet. It is also really pretty and looks like a very comfortable place to stay for a while.
We walked about 4.5 miles without getting very wet on a day when our plan would have been pretty disrupted. It was a great alternative. We learned quite a bit about Italy during WWII. Since this part of Italy was under fascist control, the allies tried to blow up the tunnels, and 18 Italian-American soldiers lost their lives in a failed sabotage mission. Eventually the Allies succeeded in bombing the railway from the air.
The tunnels have become a really useful bicycle route, and must give visitors as much relief from the hot summer sun as they did today for us, from the rain.
We took a train back to La Spezia and then our coach back to Le Grazie. We’ve had a lecture about the romantic poets of Lerici. We also had a wonderful meal at il Timone, featuring traditional Ligurian dishes including a pesto pasta with potatoes and green beans.
2 Responses
These reflections are so lovely! I’m glad you’re getting lots of history lessons along the way!
Laura have you read “Beneath A Scarlet Sky” historical fiction based on the life of Pino Lella, WWII Italy. I think you would enjoy – after all ITALY!