The town was probably founded by the inhabitants of Volastra (ancient Oleastra), which already existed in Roman times, where a military road passed through the area and there was a station for exchanging horses.
Subsequently, the Riviera passed from the Genoese to the Bishop of Luni, the Marquis Doria, the Fieschi and then the Serenissima Republic of Genoa. Sinibaldo Fiesco was born in Manarola in 1182, later becoming Pope Innocent IV from 1243 to 1254.
Furthermore, according to Cipriano Pallavicino, Archbishop of Genoa, a young man with the last name Parentuccelli and first name Tomaso came to Manarola in the Cinque Terre for daily visits, who later became the Pope from the year 1447 under the name Nicholas V until 1455.