Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto on the Ligurian coast were inscribed into the list of Unesco’s World Heritage sites in 1997. According to Unesco, this area, comprised between Levanto and La Spezia, is a cultural and scenic landscape of great value which exemplifies a balanced interaction between humans and nature and a way of life that has existed for a thousand years and continues to play an important social and economic role in the local community. 

The steep and jagged coastal area of the Cinque Terre (the name by which the five villages of Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore are known) has been cultivated for centuries, starting in the 12th century; dry stone walled terraces were built in order to be able to grow vines and olive trees.  Cooperation between communities and a communal approach to farming have made such cultivations possible.