The lands along the eastern wing of Liguria were isolated because of their odd location with respect to the principal centers where Italian history was being played out.

Howerer they were not immune from the broader phenomenon that was in proliferation in central and northern Italy particularly after the battle of Legnano in 1176, and that is the emergence of numerous small towns and urban centers called “communes”. Genoa, which was the first to emerge as a “free” commune, absorbed other territory in Tigullio.

The resistence of the feudal order was at its maximum strength in the mountainous inlands of Lavagna where the Fieschi family reigned supreme. Here they were the undisputed lords of the valleys surrounding their capital and at the height of their splendor their control reached the slopes of Valscrivia, Valtrebbia, and Valdiviaraand other countries of the Po valley.

The Fieschis of Lavagna remained the predominant feudal landlords of eastern Liguria almost until the beginning of the 16th century. They had property in Santa Margherita. When one spoke of the lands from Pesdno, the castle of the court, to the little valley of Castagna where the Durazzo palace was constructed, one would use the expression “andare in Fiesco” (go to Fiescho).

Even the castle in Paraggi belonged to the Fieschis before becoming a Genoese fort. Genoa managed to get the best of the feudal landlords whom she welcomed to her bosom, however not without first depriving them of many oftheir prerogatives.

So as not to dwell on the story of this family, of the alliances and the struggles with rival landlords, I shall turn my attention to Rapallo, a commune which included Pescino.

Allied immediately with Genoa it would become from that time on a faithful appendage but with relative autonomy from the’ Dominant”.

When we speak of Rapallo we don’t only mean that which the Romans called “Rea Palus” (from the Latin “palude”) but also the area along the coast that includes San Michele, Santa Margherita Ligure, Corte, and Portofino.

Rapallo began to emancipate itself and thus began the slow and inexorable decline of the Abbey of San Fruttuoso di Capodimonte as a feudal power.

The free citizens of Rapallo, Pescino (Santa Margherita Ligure, Corte and Portofino) battled to abolish the hunting and fishing privileges on Mt. Portofino and obtained the power to freely fish in their sea and hunt on their mountain.

From this moment on, the history of the Portofino coast is thus directly tied to the history of the Genoese Republic. We’re not talking here of armed struggles over land, but overall sea combat which the Tigullian citizens participated in.They battled against the traditional enemies of Genoa; first Pisa and then Venice and always remained faithful to Genoa.

And it was also in their interest that they do so because, protected by Genoa they were also able to enrich themselves with the treasures of the Orient.

It’s important to remember now the construction of the other Benedictine abbey, that of Cervara, built on a site completely detatched from any habitation on a cliff overlooking the sea, in 1361.

Many important personalities passing through this part of Liguria would be guests at this abbey. Important personalities run through the history of Genoa in the fifteenth century.

It is a rich and glorious history and while the ferocious rivalry among the noble families would signal the beginning of a decline in the fortunes of the city, the Genoese themselves would remain authentic individualists, their vitality undaunted.

As has been noted elsewhere, the Doria family with Andrea at its head achieved supremacy in Genoa. Andrea had put himself at the service of Carlo V in his struggle against the French. Carlo, feeling indebted to him, granted to Genoa the monopoly on the importation of gold from the Americas.

Great riches um thus accumulated in this period not only for Genoa but for all the cities of the eastern riviera. There was still the risk of attacks by the Saracens and for this Genoa built the castle in Santa Margherita. The forts in Paraggi and Portofino um also reinforced.

While Genoa had declined as a maritime power it was becoming, like Florence, a primary European center of great commercial wealth. In the seventeenth century Santa Margherita was chosen as a seat of several annual fairs which attracted many merchants and money changers. It was through these contacts that the Durazzo family, one of the most important in Genoa and source of many of the Doges, was able to augment the power and wealth of its palace where many important figures on the world of finance, were given hospitality.

In 1528 Andrea Doria had founded the Republic of the Nobles with the “Alberghi” (Italian for hotels). These were groupings comprised of numerous families of Genoa and the riviera.

After 1528, Genoa, at its Renaissance height along with the whole eastern Rivzem which followed polzhwlly, was alternatively under the influence of the Spanish, the Flemish, and the French. Many inhabitants of the Americas returned fabulously wealthy such as Quaquaro of Santa Margherita who had followed Pablo Pizzaro.

Coral fishing also developed in these centuries, first along the coast of the promontory of Portofino and then off the Tunisian island of Tabarka which belonged to the Lomellini family of Genoa.

Portofino World, a world apart.