Corniglia is the only one of the five Cinque Terre villages without a harbour: it sits on top of a headland, above the sea but not touching it, and you get there by climbing. In so small a place, besides the parish church there was also this oratory, the seat of a confraternity: two religious buildings for a few hundred inhabitants.
What to see
The building is of the eighteenth century and stands raised above the little square. The front is gabled, with a plain doorway, above which open a large circular window and a niche with the statue of saint Catherine of Alexandria, to whom the oratory is dedicated. Behind the right flank is a small bell tower.
Inside it is a single hall, like all confraternity oratories: no aisles, no columns, one space made for gathering. The ceiling is frescoed, also in the eighteenth century, with the martyrdom of the same saint. Today the hall also hosts conferences and contemporary art exhibitions, which is the natural fate of a well-proportioned room.
Visiting
The oratory is in the centre of Corniglia, a hamlet of Vernazza; from the station you climb a long stairway or take the shuttle bus. It opens for services and on exhibition days. A quarter of an hour.
Our editors' tip
Go in and look straight up. The same saint who greeted you in stone in the outside niche is painted on the ceiling, but at the moment of her martyrdom: outside she is a composed figure, inside she is a scene. Oratories worked like that: they introduced the patron on the front and then told the story where people sat down.