War and peace in Italy's port city of Genoa

Submitted by ItalyItalia on Thu, 2009-02-19 23:00

In Liguria Italian Riviera Art and Culture

Amidst the war and peace of Genoa's past a modern city has emerged. At the heart of Italy's riviera region its ancient port is tastefully renovated.

Referred to in the very first phrases of Tolstoy's epic War and Peace, Napoleon Bonaparte was keen on Genoa, Liguria's regional capital on Italy's north-west coast. Napoleon cherished the city's excellent port and sea-faring resources and the French annexed the city in 1805. Less than 10 years later Genoa was again liberated but this is only one small part of Genoa's fascinating history.

Christopher Columbus, for example, donated a tenth of his income from his American endeavours towards tax and food relief in Genoa, his home town. In the 1500s the city had lost its territory of Sardinia and Corsica as well as its Middle Eastern colonies and was under pressure from the Spanish, Columbus' sponsors.
Reborn under the Spanish, Genoa prospered and became an important seaport and commercial centre for trade, diplomacy and justice. The frequency of state visits fawned a unique form of city organisation. Private villas were called into public service, the owners of the Palazzi dei Rolli as they were called, obliged to host foreign guests according to an elaborate system of standards and lists.

Predominantly lined along Genoa's Via Garibaldi and Via Balbi, over 40 palazzi buildings used in this way have been listed as part of UNESCO's cultural world heritage. These aristocratic residences are a mix of baroque and renaissance style and link the medieval merchant quarter with the modern city.

Genoa's medieval gates also survived its varied political fortunes, as did the Cathedral of San Lorenzo when a British bomb dropped during WWII failed to explode. The bomb is now on display in the cathedral grounds.

And amidst the war and peace of Genoa a modern city has emerged. One with its old port tastefully renovated, home to Italy's largest aquarium, and the culturally rich Strade Nuove museum, as well as the Piazza dei Ferrari and Doge's Palace. Genoa is a surprising city, endowed with a political and social history impressive enough to warrant EU nomination as European Capital of Culture.