Monterosso al Mare is the largest village of the Cinque Terre and also the first to be documented (1056).
Consisting of two districts, the old village and Fegina, the more touristy part, Monterosso al Mare also boasts important monuments. Amongst these the XIV century church of San Giovanni Battista (St. John the Baptist), in front of which rose the Medieval Palazzo del Podestà, of which some traces remain. Of great importance, on the colle dei (hills of) Cappuccini, the castello dei Fieschi (the castle of Fieschi) and the monastero (monastry) whose church of San Francesco (St. Francis),
contains works of art of unestimable value amongst which are pictures attributed to Van Dick, Cambiaso, Piola and Guido Reni. Villa Montale can be found at Fegina, where the Nobel prize winner for Literature stayed