Landmark
Monterosso al Mare
19016 Monterosso al Mare, SP
Fourteen-meter concrete and iron Neptune, war-damaged and missing his trident, arms and shell.
This guide to Monterosso al Mare's Neptune statue, Il Gigante, in Cinque Terre traces the giant's origin in 1910, commissioned by a couple who'd made a fortune in Argentina and built by a Ferrara sculptor and an engineer as a swaggering ornament for their villa above Fegina beach. It describes how the statue's giant shell doubled as a terrace where locals say people once danced above the waves. The Second World War turned that villa into a command post, standing right above where you are now.
Audio guides are written and narrated by AI.