Grotta di Lord Byron
Sea cave beneath a clifftop church, named for a poet's legendary long-distance swim across the gulf.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Grotta di Lord Byron beneath the church of San Pietro in Portovenere follows the legend that the poet swam eight kilometers across the gulf to visit Percy Shelley in eighteen twenty-two, and the stranger true history behind it, including his real crossing of the Hellespont in eighteen ten. It traces the swimming rematch he staged against his friend Edward Trelawny in 1822, a race Byron lost, leaving him sick for days afterward. Look down into the cave where the sea still churns beneath the church walls.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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