Castello di Riomaggiore

The Castello di Riomaggiore stands apart as a quadrangular stone fortress crowned by two squat circular towers, positioned high on the ridge that divides the Rio Maggiore and Rio Finale valleys. Construction began in twelve sixty at the direction of the Turcotti marquises, who intended the site to defend the village against raids from the sea. After the territory shifted into the hands of the Republic of Genoa, the fortification was completed between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to anchor the local defensive system.