La Cervara - Abbazia di San Girolamo al Monte di Portofino

The first inhabitants of the place were a few Benedictine monks who in 1361 founded a monastery there and dedicated it to Saint Girolamo.
What was once the vegetable garden of the monks is today the only Italian-style Garden in Liguria overlooking the sea. The box hedges (Buxus Sempervirens L.), skilfully pruned in the shape of geometric designs, according to the best traditions of topiare, surround the marble seventeenth century fountain portraying a putto. The plants against the walls or along the borders are an integral part of the design of the Monumental Garden together with the grape vines on the antique pergolas. In the flower-beds, a quantity of flower species, diverse in order to guarantee blossoming throughout the year, alternate with plants with coloured foliage.
Among the species, the brightly coloured strelitzias, specimens of citrus fruit trees, the exotic bougainvillea, the singular erythrine (Erythrina Crista-galli) and again, pine trees, an ancient false pepper tree and the very rare pink capers (Capparis Spinosa L.). The quiet courtyard shaded by a centuries- old wisteria (Wisteria Sinesis L.) and the pergola of the upper garden, whose pillars are covered in Rhynchospermum, or false jasmine (Rhynchospermum jasminoides L.), provide charming, perfumed – even if short-lasting – bloomings.
The strategic position makes it an ideal venue for organizing exclusive events or meetings which just require privacy and intimacy.
Our guests have the privilege of choosing whether to stay in one of the bedrooms of the Convento, in the ancient Torre Saracena or to isolate themselves in the Suite that once hosted Francis I, King of France.