The natural harbour — many call it the most beautiful of the five.
Founded around the year 1000 and shaped by Genoa from 1276, Vernazza grew around the only safe harbour on this coast. Its pastel houses press close around the water, watched over by the Doria castle and the Belforte tower.
High above the harbour stands Santa Margherita d'Antiochia, a Ligurian-Gothic church from 1318. Its octagonal bell tower rises forty metres — and the clock you see on our shore still keeps Vernazza's time, its bells marking every hour.
Founded
≈ year 1000
Residents
≈ 700
Church
Santa Margherita, 1318
Bell tower
40 m, octagonal
Vernazza is at its best from the water — the way the ferries can't take you.
See the Boats & BookThe other villages