Little palace of the Riviera di Levante, originally uploaded by B?n.

Portofino is the pearl of the Riviera di Levante, the branch of the Ligurian Riviera where the sun rises. It is a welcoming harbor that in Roman times served as a rest stop for ships navigating from Rome to Marseilles. Plinius the Elder named it Portus Delphini because dolphins abounded in its waters.

The village has been miraculously kept small and has kept its character. The tall houses are the same; they have three or four stories, so that everyone can have a view of the sea. Yachts, fishing, expensive boutiques and great villa’s, this is Portofino today. The locals tell me that the Superintendent of the Arts in Genoa makes sure that nothing is changed on the sea front. A storeowner tells me: “You cannot even change the color or the decorations of the houses, you cannot even add a window. The word here is “preservation,” Thank god for that, I think.

Photo taken in Portofino, Italian most expensive little harbour place for the rich and famous.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 28th, 2008 at 6:33 pm and is filed under Unique Design. Tags: House, Ligurian Riviera, Little palace, Marseilles, Rome. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.