Genoa
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Medieval gates of Genoa is a rare survival of the city's golden age and its best known landmark. |
Genoa (
Italian:
Genova,
Genoese dialect:
Zena) is a
city and a
seaport in northern
Italy, the capital of the
Province of Genoa and of the
region of
Liguria. The city has a population of ca. 601,338, the metropolitan area has a population of ca. 871,733.
Genua was a city of the ancient
Ligurians. Its name is probably
Ligurian, meaning "knee" (from
Proto-Indo-European genu 'knee'), i.e. "angle", from its geographical position, thus akin to the name of
Geneva. Alternatively, the name has been claimed to derive from
Latin Janua ("gate"), the two-headed god
Janus, or an ancient word that means "foreigners", as the early settlers were considered foreign by the neighbouring population.
Ancient history
Genoa's history goes back to ancient times. A city cemetery, dating from the 6th and 5th centuries BC, testifies to the occupation of the site by the
Greeks, but the fine harbor probably was in use much earlier, perhaps by the
Etruscans. Destroyed by the
Carthaginians in
209 BC, the town was rebuilt by
Rome, under which the city enjoyed municipal rights and exported skins, wood, and honey. Although remaining faithful to Rome while other
Ligurian and
Celtic peoples of northern Italy stood by
Carthaginians in the
Second Punic War, its importance as a Roman port city was eclipsed by the rise of
Vada Sabatia, near modern
Savona.
After the fall of the
Roman Empire, Genoa was occupied by the
Ostrogoths , then by the
Lombards. For the following several centuries, Genoa was little more than a small, obscure fishing center, slowly building its merchant fleet which was to become the leading commercial carrier of the Mediterranean Sea. The town was sacked and burned in 934 by Arab pirates but this didn't stop for long the city's progress.
Middle Ages & Renaissance
Before
1100, Genoa emerged as an independent
city-state. Nominally, the
Holy Roman Emperor was overlord and the
Bishop of Genoa was president of the city; however, actual power was wielded by a number of "consuls" annually elected by popular assembly. Genoa was one of the so-called "Maritime Republics" (
Repubbliche Marinare), along with
Venice,
Pisa, and
Amalfi) and trade, shipbuilding and banking helped support one of the largest and most powerful navies in the
Mediterranean. The
Republic of Genoa extended over modern
Liguria and
Piedmont, Sardinia, Corsica and had practically complete control of the
Tyrrhenian Sea. Through Genoese participation on the
Crusades, colonies were established in the
Mideast, in the
Aegean in
Sicily and Northern
Africa. Genoese Crusaders brought home a green glass goblet from the
Levant, which Genoese long regarded as the
Holy Grail.
The collapse of the
Crusader States was offset by Genoa's alliance with the
Byzantine Empire, which opened opportunities of expansion into the
Black Sea and
Crimea. Internal feuds between the powerful families, the
Grimaldi,
Doria, Spinola, and others caused much disruption, but in general the republic was run much as a business affair. Genoa's political zenith came with its victory over Pisa in 1284, and its persistent rival, Venice, in 1298.
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View of Genoa around 1490. |
However, this prosperity did not last. The
Black Death was imported into Europe in 1349 from the Genoese trading post at
Caffa (
Theodosia) in Crimea, on the Black Sea. Following the economic and population collapse, Genoa adopted the Venetian model of government, and was presided over by a
doge (see
Doge of Genoa). The wars with Venice continued, and the
War of Chioggia (
1378-
1381), ended with a victory for Venice. After a period of French domination from 1394-1409, Genoa came under rule by the
Visconti of
Milan. Genoa lost Sardinia to
Aragon, Corsica to internal revolt and its Middle Eastern colonies to the
Ottoman Empire and the Arabs.
Christopher Columbus, a native of Genoa, donated one-tenth of his income from the discovery of the
Americas for
Spain to the
Bank of San Giorgio in Genoa for the relief of taxation on foods. The Spanish connection was reinforced by
Andrea Doria, who established a new constitution in 1528, making Genoa a satellite of the Spanish Empire. Under the ensuing economic recovery, many Genoese families amassed tremendous fortunes. At the time of Genoa's peak in the 16th century, the city attracted many artists, including
Rubens,
Caravaggio and
Van Dyck. The famed architect
Galeazzo Alessi (1512-1572) designed many of the city's splendid
palazzi. A number of
Genoese Baroque and Rococo artists settled elsewhere and a number of local artists became prominent.
Genoa suffered from French bombardment in 1684, and was occupied by
Austria in 1746 during the
War of the Austrian Succession. In 1768, Genoa was forced to cede Corsica to France.
Later history
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Christopher Columbus monument in Piazza Acquaverde. |
With the shift in world economy and trade routes to the New World and away from the Mediterranean, Genoa's political and economic power went into steady decline.
In
1797, under pressure from
Napoleon, Genoa became a French protectorate called the
Ligurian Republic, which was annexed by France in
1805. Although the Genoese revolted against France in
1814 and liberated the city on their own, delegates at the
Congress of Vienna sanctioned its incorporation into
Piedmont (
Kingdom of Sardinia), thus ending the three century old struggle by the
House of Savoy to acquire the city. The city soon gained a reputation as a hotbed of anti-Savoy republican agitation, although the union with Savoy was economically very beneficial. With the growth of the
Risorgimento movement, the Genoese turned their struggles from
Giuseppe Mazzini's vision of a local republic into a struggle for a unified
Italy under a liberalized Savoy monarchy. In
1860,
Giuseppe Garibaldi set out from Genoa with over a thousand volunteers to begin the campaign.This is called the departure of the thousands and a monument is set on the rock where the group departed from.
In
World War II the English fleet bombarded Genova and one bomb fell into the cathedral of San Lorenzo without exploding and it is now available to public viewing in the Cathedral's crypt/museum.
Genoa is the second largest old city in Italy and is worth visiting, including the Piazza de Ferrari where the Opera and the
Palace of the Doges are. There is also a house where
Christopher Columbus is believed to have been born.
One part of the old city, the Strada Nuova or the Via Garibaldi, is inscribed on the
World Heritage List in 2006. This district was designed in the mid-16th century to accommodate Mannerist palaces of the city's most eminent families, including Palazzo Rosso, Palazzo Blanco, Palazzo Grimaldi and Palazzo Reale. The famous art college, Museì di Strada Nuova and the Palazzo del Principe are also located on this street.
Other landmarks of the city include St. Lawrence Cathedral (
Cattedrale di San Lorenzo), the Old Harbor (
Porto Antico), transformed into a mall by architect
Renzo Piano, and the famous cemetery of Staglieno renowned for its monuments and statues. The
Museo d'Arte Orientale has one of the largest collections of Oriental art in Europe.
Other than the old city sights, Genoa also has the second largest
aquarium in the world which is located in the above-mentioned old harbor. The port of Genoa also contains an ancient
lighthouse, styled "La Lanterna" (i.e., "the lantern"). It is the oldest working lighthouse in the world, one of the five tallest ones, and the tallest brick one and it is Genoa's landmark.
Image:Genoa_towers.jpg|Porta SopranaImage:Genoa_alley.jpg|Narrow and tall alleyways are common in GenoaImage:Lanterna di Genova.jpg|La LanternaImage:Genoa_sunset.jpg|Sunset over harbor with large ships.Image:Genova-Palazzo Ducale da Piazza Matteotti.jpg|Palazzo DucaleImage:Genova-palazzodoria01.jpg|Palazzo DoriaImage:Galleria Mazzini.jpg|Galleria MazziniImage:Genovaduomo0001.jpg|Cattedrale di San LorenzoFamous Genoese include navigators
Cristoforo Colombo and
Andrea Doria,
Nicolay de Caveri, composers
Niccolò Paganini and
Michele Novaro, painter Domenico Piola, Italian patriots
Giuseppe Mazzini and Gerolamo
Nino Bixio, writer and translator Fernanda Pivano, poet Edoardo Sanguineti, communist politician
Palmiro Togliatti, architect
Renzo Piano, Physics 2002 Nobel Prize winner
Riccardo Giacconi, Literature 1975 Nobel Prize winner
Eugenio Montale, artist
Vanessa Beecroft, comedians Gilberto Govi and
Paolo Villaggio, folk singers
Fabrizio de André and Ivano Fossati, actor
Vittorio Gassman.
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Map of Liguria showing Genoa. |
The population is quite homogeneously
Italian. Southern and northern Italians alike have flocked to the city during the late 1900's. An estimated 95.3% of the population is of Italian origin. But there has been a sharp increase of
immigrants mostly from South America, Eastern Europe, and a very meagre number from Asia. [
1]
Immigrants by country (2004)*
Ecuadorians - 10,169
*
Albanians - 2,781
*
Moroccans - 2,189
*
Peruvians - 1,795
*
Chinese - 910
*
Romanians - 746
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The big "bigo" in the ancient port. |
*The port of Genoa is the first in
Italy. It ranks second in the
Mediterranean after neighbouring
Marseille,
France.
*The
Aquarium of Genoa was the largest in
Europe at the time it was built.
* The
University of Genoa, with 40,000 students (one of the largest universities in Italy) was founded in 1471.
*
Genoa Cricket & Football Club founded in
1893.
*
Unione Calcio Sampdoria,
football club founded in
1946 from the merger of two existing clubs, Andrea Doria (founded in 1895) and Sampierdarenese (founded in 1911).
* The
27th G8 summit took place in Genoa in July 2001, resulting in riots and the shooting and killing of a protestor and a violent crackdown by the police.
* For
2004, the
European Union designated Genoa as the
European Capital of Culture, along with the French City of
Lille.
* In 1922 the
Genoa Conference was the first economic conference that included a representative from the newly-communist Soviet Socialist Republics.
*
Genoese dialect*
Ligurian language |
Staglieno: A monumental cemetery |
*
Official Site*
Unione Calcio Sampdoria*
Genoa Cricket and Football Club*
it.wiki:Cimitero monumentale di Staglieno*
Link-collection to the main attractions of Genoa *
Bird's eye view map of Genoa*
Museums guide*
The official lighthouse website
