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by Sarah Humphreys<\/em><\/p>\n Italia! Oh Italia! Thou who hast the fatal gift of Beauty,\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Nowhere does Byron\u2019s tribute to Italy ring more true than in \u201cThe Gulf of Poets\u201d on the Ligurian coast, where Percy Bysshe Shelley was drowned in 1822. It is said that the spirit of the English Romantic poet still lives on between the inlets and promontories of this bewitching cove. It is easy to see why.<\/p>\n Stretching from Lerici to Portovenere, in a succession of beaches, jagged coastlines, crystalline waters and raw nature, the Gulf of La Spezia\u2019s literary nickname derives from the attraction the area has had for writers, painters and artists, including Percy and Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, D. H Lawrence, George Sands, Henry Miller and Virginia Woolf.<\/p>\n The Shelleys were often visited by Lord Byron, who resided nearby in Portovenere, supposedly in a cave. Byron is said to have swum the incredible 7.5 kilometre distance just to visit his dear friends. Standing at the bottom of \u201cByron\u2019s grotto\u201d which bears a plaque commemorating \u201cthe immortal poet who as a daring swimmer defied the waves of the sea from Portovenere to Lerici.\u201d staring out over the rocks which peer up from the sea, it would seem this story is rather far-fetched, although the romantic in me chooses to believe. As night falls, the grotto takes on an eerie atmosphere, rocks transform into monstrous figures and it is easy to see how the poets found their muse in this stirring landscape. Byron is believed to have written his poem \u201cThe Corsair\u201d in the grotto itself.<\/p>\n Shelley composed some of his most beautiful lyrics and songs in this area including \u201cLines written in the Bay of Lerici\u201d and was working on \u201cThe Triumph of Life\u201d at the time of his tragic drowning. Sailing from Livorno to San Terenzo, his boat named \u201cDon Juan\u201d by Byron, but referred to as \u201cAriel\u201d by the Shelleys, was sunk in a severe storm. The bodies of Shelley and his two English companions, Edward Ellerker Williams and Charles Vivien, were washed up on a beach near Viareggio and cremated in the presence of Byron, and friends Leigh Hunt and Edward Trelawny. A copy of Keats\u2019 poems was found in Shelley\u2019s jacket pocket. According to legend, Shelley\u2019s heart refused to burn in the flames and the ever-audacious Byron plucked it from the embers.<\/p>\n Walking along the coast from Lerici to San Terenzo, the incandescent extent of the waters, reflecting the pastel colours of the attractive buildings, bring to mind Mary Shelley\u2019s words \u201cO blessed shores, where Love, Liberty and Dreams have no chains.\u201d<\/p>\n The nearest airports are Pisa and Florence.![\"Portovenere\"](\"https:\/\/travelthruhistory.com\/pix\/italian2.jpg\")
Percy and Mary Shelley arrived in the tiny seaside village of San Terenzo in 1819 and rented a villa known as \u201cCasa Magni\u201d, whose whitewashed walls and arched colonnade can be found on the promenade. \u201cA lonely house close by the soft and sublime scenes of the Bay of Lerici\u201d, is how Shelley described the villa in his letters. These lines are inscribed on the walls of the now uninhabited villa, along with \u201cI still inhabit this Divine Bay, reading dramas and sailing and listening to the most enchanting music.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Gulf](\"https:\/\/travelthruhistory.com\/pix\/italian5.jpg\")
A sprinkling of brightly coloured houses line medieval streets that wind up to Lerici\u2019s castle, which overlooks the entrance to the Gulf of Poets. The castle is thought to be the inspiration for Mary Shelley\u2019s \u201cFrankenstein.\u201d Nowadays the castle contains a museum of palaeontology.<\/p>\n![\"Lerici](\"https:\/\/travelthruhistory.com\/pix\/italian1.jpg\")
Shelley\u2019s\u2019 ashes were stored in the wine cellar of The British Consul in Rome before being buried in The Protestant Cemetery in Rome, where John Keats was laid to rest just a year before. After Mary Shelley\u2019s death, her husband\u2019s heart was found wrapped in a page of \u201cAdonais\u201d, Shelley\u2019s famous elegy to Keats. Shelley\u2019s heart was eventually buried in St Peter\u2019s Churchyard in Bournemouth, Dorset.<\/p>\n![](\"\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?_encoding=UTF8&MarketPlace=US&ASIN=B07WRKTWHQ&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL250_&tag=cedarcottagemedi\")
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\nThe best of Cinque Terre & Portovenere with Typical Ligurian Lunch<\/a><\/p>\nIf You Go:<\/h3>\n
\n♦ Lerici can be reached by ferry from La Spezia, Portovenere and The Cinque Terre. Ferries run from 1st April. There\u2019s a scenic drive from La Spezia and there\u2019s a large car park etween San Terenzo and Lerici. A shuttle bus runs between the two, but it is a short walk to either village.
\n♦ Portovenere can be reached by ferry from La Spezia or Lerici. There is a bus from the train station in La Spezia.
\n♦ The Gulf of Poets can get very crowded in high season. Best times to visit are Spring and Autumn.
\nFor details on accommodation, restaurants and other travel information:
\n♦\u00a0www.portovenere.it<\/a>
\n♦\u00a0www.rivieradellaliguria.com<\/a><\/p>\n
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