I just got back from a too-short sailing weekend in the Gulf of Poets with my friends of Vento in Poppa, and I’m simply happy, even if at the moment I still have the impression of being on board, with my desk, the Mac, and the rest of the room seeming to sway… damn earth sickness!
Although it’s just around the corner and I visit its lovely villages quite often, its beauty keeps surprising me, and admiring it from a sailing boat is even better.
When sailing with Vento in Poppa boarding in Le Grazie, a fishing village developed into a feature cove protected by the winds and the sea storms, where fishing and shipbuilding are the main activities.
It is a convenient harbor, with parking spaces just a few meters from the equipped piers, supermarket, bars, restaurants, fishing boats that make direct sales early in the morning and ancient wooden sailing ships, many beautiful wooden sailing ships. A small pearl.
A small pearl also home to the Commandos of the Italian Navy and the gate that separates the civilized world from the bastion of Varignano, the ancient penal colony of the Kingdom of Sardinia, is located only a few meters away from “our” pier. Beyond that gate lies the rest of the beautiful residential Varignano villa from Roman times.
From Le Grazie, you can cast off to hoist the sails only a few moments later and find yourself in the heart of the Gulf, with the evocative Torre Scola, a redoubt of the Republic of Genoa, La Spezia’s archipelago consisting of the Palmaria, Tino, and Tinetto, separated from Porto Venere by the Strait of Le Bocche and on the other side San Terenzo, Lerici, Fiascherino and my favorite one, Tellaro.
Inside the bay, you always get a bit of wind, even in the dead calm days, and this is especially true near the Canal of Porto Venere so that you can always manage some sailing time and plan some more or less professional race.
Oh, the less professional part is to descrive mid-September race… the one I never miss 😀
The coves of the Gulf of Poets
The cove behind Lerici, between Lerici and Fiascherino: a little corner of paradise where the water is emerald green, and the cliff draws an almost Asian scenery. It isn’t easy to reach from the upper street and therefore it is never really crowded.
Be careful not to confuse it with the military bay just behind the castle of Lerici, between Punta Maralunga and Punta Maramozza, nor with the prestigious and posh beach club Eco del Mare.
The cove of Tellaro, just behind the pier and the picturesque church of Tellaro: the seabed is of about ten meters, the landscape is stunning, the crystal clear water enchanting and in the afternoon is always very quiet. Unfortunately, it is not well sheltered in case of stormy sea …
Cala Grande, renamed Fork Cove by my friends at Vento in Poppa: is located on the east side of Palmaria, protected by the Tino and shaded in the afternoon. To fully understand the nickname, just approach it and count the number of anchored boats at mealtimes 😉
The roadsteads
There are plenty of ports and harbors, but there are also two noteworthy roadsteads.
The roadstead of Le Grazie, between Fezzano and Porto Venere: an excellent shelter from all winds except the Grecale. The fund goes from 12 to 5 meters and is muddy.
The roadstead of Terrizzo, between Porto Venere and Palmaria: a good shelter, disturbed only by Grecale and Tramontana and, unfortunately, by the channel’s traffic!
The area is equipped with useful complimentary buoys. The fund goes from 8 to 2 meters, and the shore is dotted by the characteristic fish farms of the Gulf and host lots of algae that make it difficult to swim to the beach.
The villages
Needless to say, they all are worth a visit, both for their beauty and for the many great seafood restaurants!
Lerici is located in the easternmost part of the Gulf of Spezia. In the Middle Ages and up to the Baroque period, it was a significant harbor from departed goods and pilgrims along the Via Francigena or north Italy.
Not to be missed: the nice Jewish ghetto, the castle, the geo-paleontological museum, Villa Marigola with its park overlooking the coast, and then the squares Poggio and San Giorgio. The Vassallo waterfront promenade leading up to San Terenzo is also lovely.
San Terenzo is a hamlet of Lerici, an ancient village where time seems to stand still and where the sea dominates and marks the lives of those who pass by.
Its clear beaches are definitely one of the highlight, but probably also what I don’t like… Even San Terenzo has its own castle, a real fortress built on the cliffs above the cave known as Tana dei Turchi.
As already pointed out earlier, the small hamlet of Tellaro is my favorite. A typical fishing village perched on a rock that still shows signs of the original fortifications: the walls on the north and the two towers of Pisan origin transformed into the bell tower of the church of St. George and the village door. I love everything about Tellaro!
The sound of the sea that breaks directly over the village, the colorful alleys that smell of salt, the pink church that looks like a ship at sunset, the balconies, the agaves, and the view on the islands. A village in which to settle and live. A village where falling in love …
For my parents, the village where falling in love has been Porto Venere, and it is true, Porto Venere is special, but I have already written many times about it, for example, speaking of the Madonna Bianca Festivity, that from a sailing boat is pure magic.
The islands
In front of Porto Venere shine the archipelago with the islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto.
Palmaria is the largest island of Liguria and offers a nice trekking path, a beautiful panoramic view over the village and the bay, and a popular restaurant, “Da Giuseppe.”
Tino is a military zone and can be accessed only at San Venerio, on September 13th, when believers honor the lighthouses guardians’ saint protectors, and the following Sunday.
Tinetto is a small picturesque rock on top of which you can visit the remains of an ancient oratory and on whose southern tip stands a shiny white Madonna, the Stella Maris, which seems to float, but actually signals an outcropping rock that, according to my mother affected more than one boat in the past!
Oh, I did not tell you why the gulf of La Spezia is best known as the Gulf of Poets!
During the funeral of Paolo Mantegazza, Sem Bonelli (the one of The Jester’s Supper, written in San Terenzo) uttered a historic sentence for those who live here, “Be blessed, oh poet of science and rest in peace in the Gulf of Poets. ” Among these poets: David Herbert Lawrence, George Sand, and her De Musset, Emma Orczy, Lord Byron, Montale, Petrarca, Marinetti, Soldati, D’Annunzio, and Shelley, who drowned precisely in the Gulf, sailing aboard his schooner Ariel.
There were actually also great painters around here, such as Turner and Botticelli, who painted his Venus right in the Gulf! The world-famous Venus was Simonetta Cattaneo, a beautiful woman from Fezzano, where you can still visit the rest of her villa.
Now I’ll let you program your sailing holiday.
Fair winds (and calm seas)!
