Cinque Terre is mentioned in documents dating to the 11th century. Monterosso and Vernazza were settled first and the other villages grew later, whilst within the territory of the Republic of Genoa. In the 16th century, the inhabitants reinforced existing forts and built new defence towers to defend the area from attacks by the Turks. Cinque Terre experienced an economic decline from the 17th to 19th centuries,[citation needed] recovering when an arsenal was built in La Spezia and it gained a railway link to Genoa.

Bombing and fighting during World War II caused extensive damage to the Cinque Terre.

The railway led to migration from the area and a decline in traditional industries until the growth of tourism from the 1970s onwards brought some prosperity.

The predominant crops in the area have been grapes and olives. Some fishermen were based in Monterosso, but the area's gaily painted fishermen's cottages were conceived in the late 1970s as a tourist attraction.

Because of its exceptional cultural and ecological assets, UNESCO added Cinque Terre to its list of World assets Sites in 1997.[1]

On 25 October 2011, torrential rain caused floods and mudslides in Cinque Terre. Nine people were killed and villages were severely damaged, particularly Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare.[2] The heavy rainfall event was favoured by the crisis of the traditional and less remunerative cultivation of terraced landscapes which sixty years before started a progressive decline and reduction of maintenance. It was partially balanced by the vegetation that spontaneously developed on abandoned terraces, a role underlined by a part of the existing scientific literature.[3]