Genoa

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Genoa
City:	Comune di Genova
Region:	Liguria
Province:	Genoa (GE)
Altitude:	20
Area cityproper:	243
Population as of:	2006
Population density:	620,316
Population density metric:	2,553
Timezone:	CET, UTC+1
Frazioni:	Acquasanta, Vesima
Telephone:	010
Postal code:	16100
Gentilic:	Genovesi
Saint:	St. John the Baptist
Day:	June 24
Mayor:	Giuseppe Pericu (since 2005-05-30)
Website:	www.comune.genova.it

Genoa (Italian Genova, Genoese (dialect of Ligurian) Zena, French Gênes, German Genua, Spanish Génova, Galician Xénova) 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.

Christopher Columbus monument in Piazza Acquaverde.

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.

History

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.

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 Doges 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.

Flag of Genoa.

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 palazzo. 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

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 the second world war 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.

Main sights

Main sights include the Strada Nuova or the via Garibaldi which are the famous Streets designed and decorated by the King of Genoa. The famous art college, Museì de Strada Nuova and the Palazzo Principe are located on them. Other then the old city sights, Genoa also has the Second largest Aquarium in the world which is located in the Porto Antico (old harbor). Genoa has the second largest old city in Italy which is worth while visiting, including the Piazza Ferrari where the opera and the Palace of the King of Genoa are (Palazzo Ducale), which is also located near the birth place of Christopher Columbus.

Famous people

Famous Genoese include Cristoforo Colombo (Christopher Columbus), Admiral 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.

Demographics

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

The big "bigo" in the ancient port.

Miscellaneous

• 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.
• Other landmarks of the city are the Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace), St. Lawrence Cathedral (Cattedrale di San Lorenzo), The Old Harbor (Porto Antico), transformed into a mall by architect Renzo Piano, Via Garibaldi with its superb palaces and the world famous cemetery of Staglieno renowned for its monuments and statues.
• The Museo d'Arte Orientale is one of the largest collections of Oriental art in Europe.
• The University of Genoa, with 40,000 students (one of the larger universities in Italy) was founded in 1481.
• Genoa Cricket & Football Club founded in 1893.
• UC Sampdoria, football club founded in 1946.
• 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 representitative from the newly-communist Soviet Socialist Republics.
• The port of Genoa is home to an ancient Lighthouse: "La Lanterna" ("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.

External links

Staglieno: A monumental cemetery

• Genoa Cricket and Football Club
• Official Site
• Photos of Genoa
• ItalianVisits.com
• Bird's eye view map of Genoa
• Museums guide
• The official lighthouse website
• UC Sampdoria football club
• Some pictures of Genoa and surroundings