Portofino
| |
| Region | Liguria |
| Province | Genoa (GE) |
| Altitude | 3 m |
| Area - City Proper |
2 km² |
| Population - City (2004) - Density (city proper) |
529 265/km² |
| Time zone | CET, UTC+1 |
| Patron: - Saint -Day |
Saint George of Lydda April 23 |
| Site | comune.portofino.genova.it |
Portofino is a small Italian fishing village and tourist resort located in the province of Genoa on the Italian Riviera. The town crowded round its small harbour is considered to be among the most beautiful Mediterranean ports. Portofino has even been recreated in stupendous detail around the 'harbor' at Tokyo DisneySea in Chiba, Japan, and to a much lesser extent, the Portofino Bay Resort at Universal Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida.
According to Pliny the Elder, Portofino was founded by the Romans and named Portus Delphini, or Port of the Dolphin, because of the large number of dolphins that inhabited the Tigullian Gulf. The towns's natural harbour supported a fleet of fishing boats, somewhat too cramped to provided more than a temporary safe haven for the growing merchant marine of Republic of Genoa during the Middle Ages.
In the early 20th century, first British, then German tourists began to visit Portofino, which they reached by horse and cart from Santa Margherita Ligure. Aubrey Herbert (1880–1923) was one of the more famous Englishmen to maintain a villa at Portofino. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor honeymooned at the Hotel Splendido, and years later Richard Burton proposed to Elizabeth Taylor. Rex Harrison had a villa high on the terraced slopes. Eventually more expatriates built expensive vacation houses, and by 1950 tourism had supplanted fishing as the town's chief industry, and the waterfront was a continuous ring of waterside restaurants and cafés.
Points of interest
See also
- The Cervara (La Cervara - Abbazia di San Girolamo al Monte di Portofino)
- Paraggi