The Old Harbor of the Gods

The very famous anthropologist Paolo Mantegazza stayed here at length and thereafter decided to live out the rest of his years in San Terenzo. He died in San Terenzo in 1910 and used these words to describe the area.

The town rests on a small bay which is overlooked by its picturesque medieval castle and is completed by the magnificent park of the Maccarani estate on the Lerici side, with its one hundred thousand pine and oak trees extends towards the sea, offering a mysterious and fresh shade even in the hottest hours of the day. The presence of giant palm trees here and there in the little gardens suggest a mild climate.

The town of San Terenzo rises beneath a promontory which is called Falconara (also known as Fenociaria centuries ago). This town is located at the extreme western side of the Gulf of Lerici

The ancient name of the town is Portiolo, Portus Dei, but later on took on the name of Santo Terencio, in honour of the patron saint Terenzio, who arrived hapharzardly in the town due to a storm.

The first historic writings date back to the period in which the town was part of the Trebiano township. It was 1224.

In medieval times the town was known as an important gathering place which welcomed pilgrims passing through.

We can also find San Terenzo as a commercial reference at the end of the 1400's when the Republic of Genova was purchasing bricks and at the same time, the sand from its beaches was used to cut marble from the Apuan Mountains

Subsequently, the mapmaker, Matteo Vinzoni, traces this town from the 1700's as a place gathered almost entirely between the Castle, the current day Via Trogu and Piazza Drento.

Between 1809 and 1819, San Terenzo was the town headquarters during the Napoleonic era.

The Land loved by Shelley

The town, situated on the coastline between two blue crystal clear bays known as Venere Azzurra and Baia Blu, had already sparked the attention of the romantic English writers back at the beginning of the 1800's for the intense blue color of its waters and its pink colored sand. Percy Bysshe Shelley would vacation there with his wife Mary and right in this village, unforgettable pages of English literature were born.

Shelley and his wife Mary stayed with another couple in Villa Magni, a white house located along the coastline, which at the time, was quite isolated from the rest of town. Shelley left San Terenzo onboard the "Ariel" from which he was shipwrecked. People say that the spirit of this romantic English poet still lives on between the inlets and the rocky points of Marinella, which have maintained their charm and bewitched this English poet. After many years, a Swiss painter named Arnold Bocklin captured the emotions conveyed by the coastline, the rocks, and the vegetation on his canvas. Other beautiful works of art which depict the San Terenzo bay are exhibited in several Russian museums and were painted by Nikolaj Nikolaevic Ge.

"I still live in this divine bay, reading Spanish plays, sailing and listening to the most enchanting music". So wrote Percy Bysshe Shelley from San Terenzo in 1822.

The Cave of the Turks

Under the rocky spur on which the castle lies is a little natural cave which today is completely buried underneath. The waters in this cave were once crystal-clear and the townspeople referred to this as The Cave of the Turks ("La Tana dei Turchi".)

Legend has it that in the fifteenth century, the Turks came to prey on the gulf and that, despite the existence of the castle, they nevertheless attempted the assault on San Terenzo.

The castle guards awaited with all their ammunition ready; they let the enemy get within their firing range and when the Turks were ready to disembark from their boats in the middle of the night, the castle guards covered them in a tempest of iron and fire.

The sails began to burn while the savage cries of the Turks persisted.

Such an energetic welcome convinced the Turks that they should make a hasty retreat but a few boats had already reached the shore.

The pirates attempted to rob and plunder the townspeople in any case chasing them towards the castle, but were pushed back by the soldiers who defended the castle.

The Turks who did not want to be captured as prisoners or perish under fire tried to escape towards the sea, in an effort to swim towards their boats, but the valiant defenders continued to chase them.

So the Saracens sought refuge under the rocky spur of the castle in a hidden corner to be safe from the crossbows, and so eight of them hid in the cave.

Their efforts were to no avail however since the soldiers found them and killed them, leaving their skeletons on the bottom of the cave, not buried since they were unfaithful…

... and there they still remain!

Tribute to San Terenzo Andrew Lang (1844-1912)

 Mid April seemed like some November day,
When through the glassy waters, dull as lead,
Our boat, like shadowy barques that bear the dead,
Slipped down the long shores of the Spezian bay,
Rounded a point, and San Terenzo lay
Before us, that gay village, yellow and red,
The roof that covered Shelley's homeless head,
His house, a place deserted, bleak and gray.
The waves broke on the doorstep; fishermen
Cast their long nets, and drew, and cast again.
Deep in the ilex woods we wandered free,
When suddenly the forest glades were stirred
With waving pinions, and a great sea bird
Flew forth, like Shelley's spirit, to the sea!