Lerici

Lerici
Country	Italy
region	Liguria
province	La Spezia (SP)
Coordinates	44 ° 5 ' N , 9 ° 55' E Coordinates: 44 ° 5 '0 " N , 9 ° 55' 0" E
height	0 m slm
surface	15 km²
Residents	10,004 (Dec 31, 2019)
Population density	667 inhabitants / km²
Post Code	19032
prefix	0187
ISTAT number	011016
Popular name	Lericini
Patron saint	Madonna di Maralunga
Website	www.comune.lerici.sp.it
	; View over Lerici

Lerici ( Lérze in the Ligurian language ) is an Italian municipality in Liguria with 10,004 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2019) and is eleven kilometers from the provincial capital La Spezia .

Geographical location

Lerici is located at the eastern end of the Riviera , the Franco - Italian stretch of coast of the Ligurian Sea . Lerici is located on the east side of the Gulf of La Spezia , which is also called Golfo dei Poeti . Opposite Lerici is Porto Venere . Lord Byron once swam across the Gulf of La Spezia from Porto Venere to Lerici.

Even Dante met this geographical allocation and compares the slope of the lowest rocky slope of Fegefeuerberges in his " Divine Comedy " to the cliff edge of the Riviera, which extends from La Turbie ( Italian Turbia extends) to Lerici, with the following words:

"From Lerici to Turbia,
even the steepest fall is a steep climb,
comfortable and freely accessible against it."

- Dante Alighieri : Divine Comedy , Purg. III, 49–51

Population development

Lerici had 6,301 inhabitants in 1861. From 1901 to 1971 the number rose from 9,912 to 14,680 inhabitants and since then has fallen again to 10,900 inhabitants by 2001 .

history

The "Portus Lunae", founded by the Etruscans, was contested for a long time by Genoa and Pisa in the Middle Ages . Lérici was mentioned for the first time in 1152. The Pisans settled here in 1241 and built the castle, which was then expanded and fortified by the Genoese into a fort in the Pisan-Genoese style. In 1256 Genoa conquered the city and ended the occupation by Pisa. The large villas of the noble families were built in the 17th and 18th centuries. Lerici and its northern suburb of San Terenzo developed into a holiday resort from the 19th century.

Percy Bysshe Shelley and his wife Mary Shelley rented the white beach villa "Villa Magni" in San Terenzo from April to September 1822. On July 8, 1822, the sailor Percy Bysshe Shelley was caught in a storm and drowned on his way back from Livorno. His friend Lord Byron had the body cremated on the beach at Viareggio , where the body was washed up. The popularity of Shelley and Byron led to the name of the Gulf of Poets ( Golfo dei Poeti ) for the Gulf of La Spezia and attracted tourists and writers.

The following writers visited Lerici and San Terenzo: Henry James in 1909 , Paolo Mantegazza in 1910 , D. H. Lawrence , Virginia Woolf in 1933 , Gabriele D'Annunzio and Sem Benelli .

Culture and sights

At the castle of Lerici (built around 1100 to 1550 ) there is next to the imposing fortress with the pentagonal tower also the chapel of Sant'Anastasia from the 13th century. The fortress now houses a paleontological museum ("Museo Geopaleontologico").

The castle of San Terenzo (district of Lerici) houses a museum dedicated to the Shelley couple.

The parish church of San Francesco in Lerici dates from the 12th century. Many of the works of art in the church are works of the Genoese school, the Madonna and Child in the nearby oratory of San Bernardino is by Domenico Fiasella . A shipwreck from Roman times lies between Lerici and Tellaro near La Cala. On the headland of Maralunga is a coastal fortification from the 19th century.