Lerici Webcam – See the Castle from Venere Azzurra Beach

The Lerici Webcam looks south from Hotel Florida over the free beach at Venere Azzurra, on the eastern shore of the Gulf of La Spezia in Liguria. The sand curves away below the lens to a rock breakwater, and beyond it the moored boats of Lerici’s harbor lead across to the old town and its castle on the headland, about 900 meters (0.6 miles) away. The right half of the frame is open water, the Gulf of Poets, with the islands of Tino and Palmaria and the Portovenere headland on the horizon. A coast road and a row of lamp posts run down the left edge. Mornings give the cleanest view, because from autumn to spring the midday sun hangs in the top of the frame and flares across the town.

About Lerici

Lerici is a comune of 10,205 people (2017) covering 15 square kilometers (5.8 square miles) at the southeastern corner of the Gulf of La Spezia, about 7 kilometers (4.5 miles) east-southeast of central La Spezia in a straight line. Venere Azzurra, where this camera stands, is one of its frazioni, alongside San Terenzo, Tellaro, La Serra and Pugliola. The sand directly below the lens is the spiaggia libera, the free public beach, so nobody needs a beach club ticket to spread a towel there.

The castle at the end of the headland has watched over the entrance to the gulf since Genoa began building it in 1152, the year it bought Lerici from the lords of Arcola. Pisa held it from 1241 to 1256 and started raising the tower and the walls. Once Genoa took it back the fortifications kept growing, and the Genoese Office of Saint George had the works completed in 1555. The tower stands 29 meters (95 feet) high, and in 1998 the castle opened a geopaleontological museum built around fossil footprints.

The name Gulf of Poets is younger than it sounds. The poet Sem Benelli coined Golfo dei Poeti in 1910, in tribute to the writer Paolo Mantegazza, and it stuck because of the English Romantics. Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley lived at Casa Magni (Villa Magni) on the San Terenzo shore, and Shelley drowned on 8 July 1822. That same year Lord Byron swam across the gulf from Portovenere to San Terenzo to visit him.

Weather and Climate in Lerici

Lerici has a mild Mediterranean climate. The nearest long record comes from La Spezia (2004 to 2020), where January averages highs of 11.9°C (53°F) and lows of 5.8°C (42°F), and snow is exceptionally rare at sea level. Spring warms quickly, from highs of 14.6°C (58°F) in March to 22.1°C (72°F) in May. July and August peak at about 29°C (84°F) by day and 20 to 21°C (68 to 69°F) at night, with only four rainy days a month, the height of the beach season on the sand below the camera.

Autumn is the wet season. October still averages 21.1°C (70°F) but brings 164 millimeters (6.5 inches) of rain, and November and December are the wettest months at about 200 millimeters (7.9 inches) each, out of 1,314 millimeters (51.7 inches) a year. In those months the low sun sits due south, the way the lens points, so the early hours show the castle and the islands most clearly. A swell from the south can break in white lines along the curve of the beach.

Things to Do Near Lerici

The seafront from Venere Azzurra leads past the harbor moorings in the middle of the frame and up to the castle. In the other direction, San Terenzo has its own small castle, its beach and Villa Magni, where the Shelleys lived in 1822.

Southeast of town, the village of Tellaro sits on the rocks about 3 kilometers (2 miles) from the camera in a straight line. Path 433 links it with Lerici, and the Tellaro and Fiascherino loop covers 3.9 kilometers (2.4 miles) with 156 meters (512 feet) of climbing, through olive groves and pines and down to Fiascherino, the cove where D.H. Lawrence stayed.

Seasonal boats from Lerici’s harbor cross to Portovenere and continue along the Cinque Terre, generally from spring to the end of October. Portovenere, the Cinque Terre and the islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto were inscribed together as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997, and two of those islands are on the camera’s horizon. In Portovenere, the striped Church of San Pietro, consecrated in 1198, stands on the rock above the collapsed grotto where Byron’s swim began.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Lerici located?

Lerici is in Liguria, in the province of La Spezia, on the eastern shore of the Gulf of La Spezia, also known as the Gulf of Poets. Central La Spezia is about 7 kilometers (4.5 miles) to the west-northwest in a straight line. The camera stands at Venere Azzurra, just north of Lerici’s harbor and castle.

What can you see on the Lerici Webcam?

The camera faces south from Hotel Florida. The free beach of Venere Azzurra curves across the foreground to a rock breakwater, Lerici’s moorings, old town and castle fill the middle distance on the left, and the open gulf takes up the right half, with Tino, Palmaria and the Portovenere headland on the horizon.

Can you see Lerici Castle on the webcam?

Yes. The castle is the fortress with the tall tower on the headland left of center, about 900 meters (0.6 miles) due south of the camera. It is small in the frame but easy to pick out, and it shows best in morning light.

Which beach does the Lerici Webcam show?

It shows the free public beach at Venere Azzurra, directly below Hotel Florida. San Terenzo’s beach is on the second tab, and the coves at Fiascherino and Tellaro further south are out of view.

Is there a webcam in San Terenzo?

Yes. The San Terenzo tab on the player switches to a second, moving camera from the same operator, at Hotel San Terenzo. It looks over the village beach and seafront, with San Terenzo’s 15th-century castle and Villa Magni in view, and pans across the Gulf of Poets toward Lerici, Tino, Palmaria and Portovenere.

What is the weather like in Lerici?

Mild for most of the year. At La Spezia, the nearest long record, January averages 11.9°C (53°F) by day and 5.8°C (42°F) at night, while July and August reach about 29°C (84°F). October to December is the wettest stretch, with 565 millimeters (22.2 inches) of rain between them.

How far is Lerici from the Cinque Terre?

Riomaggiore, the nearest of the five villages, is about 14 kilometers (8.5 miles) west of the camera in a straight line, on the far side of the Portovenere headland. In season, boats from Lerici’s harbor run to Portovenere and along the Cinque Terre, and by road the route runs through La Spezia.

Source: Paesaggi Digitali