P O R T O V E N E R E Size: 13 x 11 inches (33×28 centimeters) Hardcover Dust Jacket Front cover: Esther Creations by Ocean Shelling Models: Cleo & Esther Photography © by Massimo Conti www.massimo-conti.com Production: Ocean Shelling | Yachting & Surf Wear mC | Limited Editions Copyright © 2009 by Ocean Shelling | Yachting & Surf Wear www.oceanshelling.com All rights reserved

Portovenere Introduction Ocean Shelling find inspiration from the pastel colors of the Portovenere’s houses to create its new collection of yachting and surf wear. An enchanting journey in the waters where according to legend, was born Venus (in Italian Venere).the Roman Goddess associated with love, beauty and fertility. A wonderful walking between ancient roman walls along little streets … breathing sea wind.

A view of Portovenere from Palmaria

P O R T O V E N E R E The ancient Portus Veneris is believed to date back to at least the middle of the first century BCE. It has been said that the name refers to a temple to the goddess Venus (Venere) which was sited on the promontory where the church of Peter the Apostle now stands. The name has also been linked to that of the hermit Saint Venerius. In Roman times the city was essentially a fishing community.

The ancient walls After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Portovenere became the base of the Byzantine fleet in the northern Tyrrhenian Sea, but was destroyed by the Lombards in 643 CE. Later, it was a frequent target of Saracen raids. First indications of the existence of a castle date from 1113, and in 1161 the walls were erected. Portovenere became a fiefdom of a family from Vezzano before passing to Genoa in the early twelfth century. In 1494, it suffered a devastating bombardment from the Aragonese fleet during their war with Genoa: subsequently the old part of the town declined in importance, giving way to the development of the Borgo Nuovo ("New District"), which had existed from 1139 and is centred on the church of St. Peter.

Porto Venere is known above all for its landscape features: the tower-houses leaning one against the other and forming a multicolored group of buildings were built in the first half of the 12th century by the Genoese to transform the ancient Roman "portus" in the fortified outpost of their eastern border. These houses give the town a uniqueness which has transformed it into a famous tourist destination.

The Tower-houses The particular outline of the village and the small S. Pietro church clinging to the top of the rocky promontory overhanging the sea are set in a natural frame of unquestionable beauty and have always delighted poets, artists, and travellers. Anyway, not everyone is aware of the scientific importance of this area, which was the theater of important experiments and research activities. As a matter of fact, Porto Venere had already been chosen in the second half of the 18th century by the naturalist Lazzaro Spallanzani as a base for his research activities: he defined it in his diaries "unique in Europe" and "... very adequate to satisfy the needs of eager researchers for the almost continuous peace characterizing it". One century later, the geologist and paleontologist Giovanni Capellini highlighted how Naturalists coming from all over the world to celebrate the jubilee of the zoological station in Naples, "expressly recognized that the first zoological station was in Porto Venere" in the house - a monastery at that time, then town hall, today a hotel - where Spallanzani used to study marine animals and carry out experiments on them, without neglecting important ornithological, botanical, and geological remarks.

The establishment of Parco Naturale Regionale di Porto Venere and its archipelago (Regional Law no. 30 of 03/09/2001), including a Marine Conservation Area, confirms after two centuries the naturalistic value of the area, declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The terrestrial protected area includes not only the historical village center, but also the western coastline up to Albana Valley (here the territory of Tramonti begins, bordering with 5 Terre National Park), as well as Palmaria, Tino, and Tinetto Islands. Despite its rather reduced area, 398 ha (including islands and mainland) and 3 km for the Marine Conservation Area, Porto Venere Regional Park is characterized by naturalistic features involving various disciplines: geology, speleology, paleontology, botany, ornithology, herpetology, and of course, marine biology.

A view of Muzzerone from Portovenere Leaving from Albana Valley, we meet the so-called "Reds", that is rocks whose characteristic color is given by the presence of fossil ammonites; beyond them, it is possible to admire the charming cliffs overhanging the sea, forming the famous Muzzerone practice wall, busy with climbers coming from all over the world for its various climbing opportunities (there are itineraries with various levels of difficulty) and the uniqueness of the uncontaminated landscape context.

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