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Pirates in the Gulf

How many times we dreamed about being pirates as children, setting out the sea, searching for new adventures and hidden treasures?

Even if piracy seems a long way off, our Gulf has been the theatre of pirate raids.

Historical pages report many sieges made by the feared Ottoman raider Captain Emre Can Dragut, when he submitted the citizens of the five villages of the Cinque Terre and the other sea villages of the Gulf.

In 1544 he set on fire Monterosso, he plundered the local church's sacred objects and made lots of prisioners.

This is confirmed in the book “Pirati nel golfo e spezzini schiavi in terra islamica” (tranlsation: "The pirates of the Gulf and the local citizens of La Spezia as slaves in the Islamic lands") by Marco Biagioni, which reports the presence of the pirates in the Gulf centuries ago.

Many stories are told about the Pirates - many of them are still told to the kids before bed time.

The Legends are a great part of the local culture so that Pirates are celebrated by recurrent events : one of the most popular history is “Polpo Campanaro” of Tellaro, which also became the symbol of the whole village ,and the even more popular “Sbarco dei Pirati” of Cadimare , which every year summons participants from all the Liguria and surrounding .

The event recall the famous boarding party in the village, in a movie atmosphere: everyone is dressed up as a buccaneer in eccentric costumes. At the end of the night the Pirates' crew conquer the village, offoloading the pirate ship.

After all, the hymn of the local football's team says: “Eravamo un covo di pirati e noi siamo i loro figli" (Translation: "We were a refuge of pirates and we were made from them").

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Pirates in the Gulf

For all the buccaneers!

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