PortofinoSights

Sights in Portofino

  1. Castello Brown

    The Genoese-built castle saw action against the Venetians, Savoyards, Sardinians and Austrians and later fell to Napoleon. In 1867 it was transformed by the British diplomat Montague Yeats Brown into a private mansion. The fabulous tiled staircase is one of the showpieces of the neo-Gothic interior, while there are great views from the garden. For a better outlook continue for another 300m or so along the same track to the lighthouse.

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  2. Abbazia della Cervara

    Abbazia della Cervara was built in 1361 and is surrounded by formal gardens. Over the centuries, the abbey has hosted Benedictine monks, three popes and a saint (Catherine of Siena), and the French king, François I, who spent a less convivial time here as a prisoner after the 1525 Battle of Pavia. Tours take in the gardens, 15th-century chapterhouse, 16th-century cloister and the Saracen Tower.

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