Clearly visible from the sea and from the hinterland, the Doria castle in Vernazza stands on the rocky spur of the town stretching out towards the sea at more than seventy meters high.
Mentioned in the thirteenth century, although an earlier defensive structure was already present, the castle was owned by the bishops of Luni, the Da Passano and the Fieschi, who in the thirteenth century ceded the village to the Republic of Genoa. After a brief period under Pisa, it returned to Genoa on a stable basis.
With an irregular plan adapted to the shape of the rocky spur on which it stands, the fortification was well protected on all sides, access was and is possible only by a long and steep staircase. The nearby Belforte tower with sighting functions completed the defenses. Today, only sections of the walls remain and above all the high cylindrical tower in the center of the esplanade, the oldest part of the fortification, restored in the twentieth century. The castle chapel dedicated to St. John the Baptist, however, is completely lost.
Towards the end of the Second World War, the castle was used as an anti-aircraft post by the German forces. Currently it can be visited for a fee and home to cultural exhibitions.