Qualla: Portofino https://qualla.com/portofino en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:30 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/p/y/s/portofino-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Portofino https://qualla.com/portofino Portofino: Introduction https://qualla.com/portofino/ Photo credit Wiki rkit, CC BY-SA 4.0. Seventeen meters beneath the surface of the inlet at Portofino, a bronze statue of Christ stands on the seabed with arms raised toward the light above. Placed there in 1954 in memory of Dario Gonzatti, the first Italian to use scuba equipment, who died diving these waters in 1947, the Christ of the Abyss has become as iconic as the village it watches over. Above the waterline, Portofino is a crescent of pastel-colored buildings wrapped around a harbor so small that a few dozen yachts fill it completely. It is among the most photographed places in Italy, and among the most expensive. But for most of its history, it was a fishing village too cramped to matter.

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Image: Wiki rkit | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/p/y/s/portofino-wp/spys-portofino-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Portofino: Port of the Dolphin https://qualla.com/portofino/ Photo credit Kardelenagca 01, CC BY-SA 4.0. Pliny the Elder, writing in the first century AD, recorded a settlement called Portus Delphini on the Ligurian coast between Genoa and the Gulf of Tigullio. The name stuck. A diploma from 986 AD by Adelaide of Italy assigned the village to the nearby Abbey of San Fruttuoso di Cap...

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Image: Kardelenagca 01 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/p/y/s/portofino-wp/spys-portofino-port-of-the-dolphin.mp3 0:06 2 full Portofino: The English Discovery https://qualla.com/portofino/ Photo credit Superchilum, CC BY-SA 4.0. Tourism arrived by horse and cart. In the late 19th century, British aristocrats began making the journey from Santa Margherita Ligure along the winding coastal road to a village that had barely changed since the Renaissance. Aubrey Herbert, the diplomat and orientalist who may h...

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]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/p/y/s/portofino-wp/spys-portofino-the-english-discovery.mp3 0:06 3 full Portofino: A Village the World Could Not Leave Alone https://qualla.com/portofino/ Photo credit Blackfalcon, CC BY-SA 3.0. The list of people who have passed through Portofino reads like an index of European culture. King Richard I of England stopped here in 1190, en route to the Third Crusade. Pope Gregory XI visited in 1377. Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of radio, made it a residence. Rex Harriso...

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]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/p/y/s/portofino-wp/spys-portofino-a-village-the-world-could-not-leave-alone.mp3 0:06 4 full Portofino: Still Small https://qualla.com/portofino/ Photo credit Davide Papalini, CC BY 2.5. For all its fame, Portofino remains astonishingly small. The permanent population barely exceeds 400 people. The harbor holds perhaps two dozen boats. There is one main road in, and on busy days it becomes impassable. The 12th-century church of San Martino still stands. The churc...

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Image: Davide Papalini | CC BY 2.5

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/p/y/s/portofino-wp/spys-portofino-still-small.mp3 0:06 5 full