Alanís castle has Arab origins. The town was conquered by Ferdinand III in 1249 and the castle was rebuilt in 1392. It has a hexagonal floor plan, with a tower and barbican, which has now disappeared. Its walls are 2.3 metres wide and 6.5 metres high, leaving only one access to the enclosure on the north side, from where the village can be seen.
Th castle was attacked by the French during the Napoleonic occupation, who dynamited one of its walls, the southwest one, and the ruins are still preserved today.
Manarola is a small town, a frazione of the comune of Riomaggiore. It is the second-smallest of the famous Cinque Terre towns frequented by tourists, with a population of 353.
Manarola may be the oldest of the towns in the Cinque Terre, with the cornerstone of the church, San Lorenzo, dating from 1338. The local dialect is Manarolese, which is marginally different from the dialects in the nearby area. The name 'Manarola' is probably a dialectical evolution of the Latin, 'magna rota'. In the Manarolese dialect this was changed to 'magna roea' which means 'large wheel', in reference to the mill wheel in the town.
Manarola's primary industries have traditionally been fishing and wine-making. The local wine, called Sciacchetrà, is especially renowned; references from Roman writings mention the high quality of the wine produced in the region.