Genoa (, ; Zena in Genoese and Ligurian; Genua in Latin and, archaically, in English) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. The city has a population of about 610,000 and the urban area has a population of about 900,000. It is also called la Superba ("the Superb one") due to its glorious past. Part of the old city of Genoa was inscribed on the World Heritage List (UNESCO) in 2006 (see below). The city's rich art, music, gastronomy, architecture and history, made it 2004's EU Capital of culture.

Genoa is a maritime town, and is ranked 5th in Italy for economic strength, after Rome, Milan, Turin and Naples, and is a major industrial city in northern Italy, being part of the nation's famous "industrial triangle". Major Italian companies and businesses, such as Ansaldo Energia, Ansaldo STS and Edoardo Raffinerie Garrone are based in the city. Also, the city's Bank of Saint George is one of the oldest in the world, founded in 1407.

Etymology

Genua was a city of the ancient Ligurians. Its name is probably Ligurian, meaning "knee", i.e. "angle", from its geographical position, thus akin to the name of Geneva. Or it could derive from the Celtic root genu-, genawa (pl. genowe), meaning "mouth", i.e., estuary, or from the Latin word of Celtic origin "ianua", meaning "door".

Flag

The flag of Genoa is a St. George's Cross flag, a red cross on a lime white field, identical to the Flag of England, which also incorporates the St. George's Cross.

History

Ancient era and early Middle Ages

thumb|left|Ancient map of Genoa.
Genoa's history goes back to ancient times. The first historically known inhabitants of the area are the Ligures. The attribution of its foundation to Celts in 2500–2000 BC has been recently recognized as wrong.

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. It is also probable that the Phoenicians had bases in Genoa, or in the nearby area, since an inscription with an alphabet similar to that used in Tyre has been found .

In the Roman era, Genoa was overshadowed by the powerful Marseille and Vada Sabatia, near modern Savona. Different from other Ligures and Celt settlements of the area, it was allied to Rome through a foedus aequum ("Equal pact") in the course of the Second Punic War. It was therefore destroyed by the Carthaginians in 209 BC. The town was rebuilt and, after the end of the Carthaginian Wars, received municipal rights. The original castrum thenceforth expanded towards the current areas of Santa Maria di Castello and the San Lorenzo promontory. Genoese trades included skins, wood, and honey. Goods were shipped in the mainland up to important cities like Tortona and Piacenza.
thumb|Medieval gates of Genoa is a rare survival of the city's golden age and its best known landmark.
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Genoa was occupied by the Ostrogoths. After the Gothic War, the Byzantines made it the seat of their vicar. When the Lombards invaded Italy in 568, the Bishop of Milan fled and held his seat in Genoa. Pope Gregory the Great was closely connected to these bishops in exile, for example involving himself the election of Deusdedit. The Lombards, under King Rothari, finally captured Genoa and other Ligurian cities in about 643. In 773 the Lombard Kingdom was annexed by the Frank empire; the first Carolingian count of Genoa was Ademarus, who was given the title praefectus civitatis Genuensis. Ademarus died in Corsica while fighting against the Saracens. In this period the Roman walls, destroyed by the Lombards, were rebuilt and extended.

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 it was quickly rebuilt.

In the 10th century the city, now part of the Marca Januensis ("Genoese Mark") was under the Obertenghi family, whose first member was Obertus I. Genoa was one of the first cities in Italy to have some citizenship rights granted by local feudataries.

Middle Ages and Renaissance

thumb|left|Via XX Settembre.thumb|left|Monument to Christopher Columbus.
Before 1100, Genoa emerged as an independent city-state, one of a number of Italian city-states during this period. 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 Adorno, Campofregoso, and other smaller merchant families all fought for power in this Republic, as the power of the consuls allowed each family faction to gain wealth and power in the city. 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 Middle East, 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.
thumb|Torre della Lanterna, the ancient lighthouse of Genoa.
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 and Fieschi, the Doria, Spinola, and others caused much disruption, but in general the republic was run much as a business affair. In 1218–1220 Genoa was served by the Guelph podestà Rambertino Buvalelli, who probably introduced Occitan literature to the city, which was soon to boast such troubadours as Jacme Grils, Lanfranc Cigala, and Bonifaci Calvo. Genoa's political zenith came with its victory over the Republic of Pisa at the naval Battle of Meloria in 1284, and over its persistent rival, Venice, at the naval Battle of Curzola in 1298.

However, this prosperity did not last. The Black Death was imported into Europe in 1347 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. In 1390 Genoa initiated a crusade against the Barbary pirates with help of the French and laid siege to Mahdia. 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, Eastern European and Asia Minor colonies to the Turkish Ottoman Empire.
Christopher Columbus, a native of Genoa, donated one-tenth of his income from the discovery of the Americas for Spain to the Bank of Saint George 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 aristocratic Genoese families, such as the Balbi, Doria, Grimaldi, Pallavicini, and Serra, 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, as did in the decades that followed by fifty years Bartolomeo Bianco (1590-1657), designer of centerpieces of University of Genoa. A number of Genoese Baroque and Rococo artists settled elsewhere and a number of local artists became prominent. The plague killed as much as half of the inhabitants of Genoa in 1656–57.

In May 1684, as a punishment for Genoese support for Spain, the city was subjected to a French naval bombardment, with some 13,000 cannonballs aimed at the city. It was occupied by Austria in 1746 during the War of the Austrian Succession. In 1768, Genoa was forced to also cede Corsica to France.

Modern history

thumb|200px|left|Genoa in 1810.
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. This affair is commemorated in the famous first sentence of Tolstoy's War and Peace:

"Well, Prince, so Genoa and Lucca are now just family estates of the Buonapartes.(...) And what do you think of this latest comedy, the coronation at Milan, the comedy of the people of Genoa and Lucca laying their petitions [to be annexed to France] before Monsieur Buonaparte, and Monsieur Buonaparte sitting on a throne and granting the petitions of the nations?" (spoken by a thoroughly anti-Boanapartist Russian aristocrat, soon after the news reached Saint Petersburg).

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. thumb|right|Garibaldi leading the Expedition of the Thousand. The city soon gained a reputation as a hotbed of anti-Savoy republican agitation (having his climax in 1849 with the Sack of Genoa), 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. Today a monument is set on the rock where the group departed from.

During World War II the British fleet bombarded Genoa and one shell fell into the cathedral of San Lorenzo without exploding. It is now available to public viewing on the cathedral premises. The city was liberated by the partisans a few days before the arrival of the Allies.

The 27th G8 summit in the city, in July 2001, was overshadowed by violent protests, with one protester, Carlo Giuliani, killed amid accusations of police brutality. In 2007 15 officials, who included police, prison officials and two doctors, were found guilty by an Italian court of mistreating protesters. A judge handed down prison sentences ranging from five months to five years.
In 2004, the European Union designated Genoa as the European Capital of Culture, along with the French city of Lille.

Geography

thumb|left|A satellite picture of Genoa.

The city of Genoa covers an area of 243 square kilometres (151 sq miles) between the Ligurian Sea and the Apennine Mountains. The city develops on the coast for about 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the neighbourhood of Voltri to Nervi, and for 10 kilometres (6 miles) from the coast to the north along the valleys Polcevera and Bisagno. The territory of Genoa can then be popularly divided into 5 main zones: the centre, the west, the east, the Polcevera and the Bisagno Valley.

Climate

Genoa has a Mediterranean climate, maritime temperate, with atlantic influences.

Winter is mild, with an average temperature of 8.0°C in January, and summer is warm with an average temperature of 24.0°C in August. The daily temperature range is limited, with an average range of 6°C between high and low temperatures. The driest month is July, while the wettest months are October and November. Snow generally falls once a year.

Genoa is also a windy city, especially during winter when northern winds often bring cool air from central and northern Europe (usually accompanied by lower temperatures, high pressure and clear skies). Another typical wind blows from southeast, mostly as a consequence of atlantic disturbances and storms, bringing humid and warmer air from the sea.

Genoa

Main sights

thumb|left|The Genoa Cathedral.thumb|350px|left|[[Piazza De Ferrari (Genoa)|Piazza De Ferrari.]]

The main features of central Genoa include Piazza De Ferrari, around which are sited the Opera and the Palace of the Doges. There is also a house where Christopher Columbus is said to have been born.
Strada Nuova (now Via Garibaldi), in the old city, was 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 (now a museum), Palazzo Bianco, Palazzo Grimaldi and Palazzo Reale. The famous art college, Musei 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 Harbour (Porto Antico), transformed into a mall by architect Renzo Piano, and the famous cemetery of Staglieno, renowned for its monuments and statues. The Edoardo Chiossone Museum of Oriental Art has one of the largest collections of Oriental art in Europe.

Genoa also has a large aquarium located in the above-mentioned old harbour. The port of Genoa also contains an ancient lighthouse, called the "Torre della Lanterna" (i.e., "the tower of the lantern").

Parks

Genoa has 82,000 square metres of public parks in the city centre, such as Villetta Di Negro which is right in the heart of the town, overlooking the historical centre. Many bigger green spaces are situated outside the centre: in the east are the Parks of Nervi (96,000 sq m.) overlooking the sea, in the west the beautiful gardens of Villa Durazzo Pallavicini (265,000 sq m.). The numerous villas and palaces of the city also have their own gardens, like Palazzo del Principe, Villa Doria, Palazzo Bianco and Palazzo Tursi, Palazzo Nicolosio Lomellino, Albertis Castle, Villa Croce, Villa Imperiale Cattaneo, Villa Bombrini, and many more.

Promenades

Corso Italia runs for 2.5 kilometres in the quartiere of Albaro, linking the two other neighbourhood of Foce and Boccadasse. The promenade, which was originally built in 1908, overlooks the sea, towards the promontory of Portofino, and the main landmarks are the small lighthouse of Punta Vagno, the San Giuliano Abbey, the Lido of Albaro.

Old harbor

The Porto Antico ("old harbour" in Italian) is the ancient part of the port of Genoa. The Genoese architect Renzo Piano redeveloped the area, restoring the historical buildings (like the Cotton warehouses) and creating new landmarks like the Aquarium, the Bigo and recently the "Bolla" (the Sphere). The main touristic attractions of this area are the famous Aquarium and the Museum of the Sea (MuMA). In 2007 these attractions had almost 1.7 million visitors.

Demographics

In 2007, there were 610,887 people residing in Genoa, located in the province of Genoa, Liguria, of whom 47% were male and 53% were female. Minors (children ages 18 and younger) totalled 14.12 percent of the population compared to pensioners who number 26.67 percent. This compares with the Italian average of 18.06 percent (minors) and 19.94 percent (pensioners). The average age of Genoa residents is 47 compared to the Italian average of 42. In the five years between 2002 and 2007, the population of Genoa grew by 1 percent, while Italy as a whole grew by 3.85 percent. The current birth rate of Genoa is 7.49 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.45 births. Genoa has the lowest birth rate and is the most aged of any large Italian city.

As of 2006, 94.23% of the population was Italian. The largest immigrant group is from the Americas (mostly Ecuador): 2.76%, other European nations (mostly Albania, and Romania): 1.37%, and North Africa: 0.62%. The city is predominantly Roman Catholic, with small Protestant adherents.

Administration

The Municipal Council of Genoa is led by a left-wing majority, elected in May 2007. The mayor is Marta Vincenzi, member of the Democratic Party.

Administrative subdivision

The city of Genoa is subdivided into 9 Municipi (administrative districts), as approved by the Municipal Council in 2007.
thumb|center|400px|The 9 districts of Genoa.

Transportation

Seaport

thumb|center|600px|A view of the commercial port of Genoa.

The Port of Genoa, with a trade volume of 58.6 million tonnes it is the first port of Italy, the second in terms of twenty-foot equivalent units after the port of transshipment of Gioia Tauro, with a trade volume of 1.86 million TEUs. Several cruise and ferry lines serve the passenger terminals in the old port, with a traffic of 3.2 million passengers in 2007. MSC Cruises chose Genoa as one of its main home ports, in competition with the genoese company Costa Cruises, which moved its home port to Savona.
The quays of the passenger terminals extend over an area of 250 thousand square metres, with 5 equipped berths for cruise vessels and 13 for ferries, for an annual capacity of 4 million ferry passengers, 1.5 million cars and 250,000 trucks. The historical maritime station of Ponte dei Mille is today a technologically advanced cruise terminal, with facilities designed after the world's most modern airports, to ensure fast embarking and disembarking of latest generation ships carrying thousand passengers. A third ruise terminal is currently under construction in the redesigned area of Ponte Parodi, once a quay used for grain traffic.

Airport

The Airport of Genoa is located just few kilometres west of the city centre. It connects Genoa with several daily flights to Rome, Naples, Paris, London, Madrid and Munich. In the last years the passenger traffic has grown to 1.2 million passengers a year, with an increase of international destinations and charter flights.

Railway and rapid transit

thumb|center|600px|A train in front of the Genoa main railway station.
The main railway stations are Genoa Brignole Station and Genoa Principe Station, the first situated in the east side of the city centre, close to the business districts and the exhibition centre, while the second is in the west side, close to the port, the university and the historical centre. From these two stations depart the main trains connecting Genoa to France, Turin, Milan and Rome.

Another station of secondary importance is Genoa Sampierdarena, which serves the densely populated neighbourhood of Sampierdarena.
21 more local stations serve the other neighbourhoods, on the 30 kilometres long coast line from Nervi to Voltri, and on the northern line through Bolzaneto and the Polcevera Valley.

The municipal administration of Genoa is projecting to transform these urban railway lines to be part of the rapid transit system, which now consists of a light metro which connects Brin to the city centre (Metropolitana di Genova).

The metro line is currently being extended to Brignole Station, with the opening of two new stations, Corvetto and Brignole, and this is expected to be completed in 2011. A possible further extension towards the eastern densely populated boroughs was planned, but the municipal administration is keen to improve the public transport investing in new tram lines instead of completing the extension of the light metro. The actual stations of the metro line are Brin-Certosa, Dinegro, Principe, Darsena, San Giorgio, Sant'Agostino and De Ferrari, with a length of the line of just 5.3 km (3.3 mi).

Education

The first organized forms of higher education in Genoa date back to the 13th century when private colleges were entitled to award degrees in Medicine, Philosophy, Theology, Law, Arts.
Today the University of Genoa, founded in the 15th century, is one of the largest in Italy, with 11 faculties, 51 departments and 14 libraries. In 2007-2008 the University had 41,000 students and 6,540 graduates.

Genoa is also home to other colleges and academies:

• The Italian Shipping Academy

• The Ligurian Academy of Fine Arts

• The "Niccolò Paganini" Conservatory

• The Italian Hydrographic Institute

The Italian Institute of Technology was established in 2003 jointly by the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research and the Italian Minister of Economy and Finance, to promote excellence in basic and applied research. The main fields of research of the Institute are Neuroscience, Robotics, Nanotechnology, Drug discovery. The central research labs and headquarters are located in Morego, in the neighbourhood of Bolzaneto.

Culture

The Aquarium of Genoa

thumb|right|[[Aquarium of Genoa - The ray fish pool.]]
thumb|right|The [[Stadio Luigi Ferraris|Luigi Ferraris Stadium.]]
The Aquarium of Genoa (in Italian: Acquario di Genova) is the largest aquarium in Italy and the second largest in Europe. Built for Genoa Expo '92, the Aquarium of Genoa is an educational, scientific and cultural centre. Its mission is to educate and raise public awareness as regards conservation, management and responsible use of aquatic environments. It welcomes over 1.2 million visitors a year.
The Aquarium of Genoa is co-ordinating the AquaRing EU project. It also provides scientific expertise and a great deal of content for AquaRing, including documents, images, academic content and interactive online courses, via its Online Resource Centre.

Sports

There are 2 football teams in Genoa: Genoa Cricket and Football Club and U.C. Sampdoria; Genoa Cricket and Football Club is the oldest football club in Italy. The football section of the club was founded in 1893 by James Richardson Spensley, an English doctor, and has won 9 championships (between 1898 and 1924) and 1 Italy Cup (season 1936/1937). U.C. Sampdoria was founded in 1946 from the merger of two existing clubs, Andrea Doria (founded in 1895) and Sampierdarenese (founded in 1911). Sampdoria has won one Italian championship (Serie A - Season 1990-1991), 4 Italy Cups, 1 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1989/90 and 1 Italian Super Cup. Both Genoa C.F.C. and U.C. Sampdoria play their home games in the Luigi Ferraris Stadium, which holds 36,536 spectators.

People

Famous Genoese include Sinibaldo and Ottobuono Fieschi (Popes Innocent IV and Adrian V) and Pope Benedict XV, navigators Christopher Columbus, Enrico Alberto d'Albertis, Enrico de Candia (Henry, Count of Malta) and Andrea Doria, composers Niccolò Paganini and Michele Novaro, Italian patriots Giuseppe Mazzini, Goffredo Mameli and 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, the court painter Giovanni Maria delle Piane (Il Mulinaretto) from the Delle Piane family, the artist Vanessa Beecroft, comedians Gilberto Govi, Paolo Villaggio, Beppe Grillo, Luca Bizzarri, Paolo Kessisoglu and Maurizio Crozza; singer-songwriters Fabrizio de André and Ivano Fossati, actor Vittorio Gassman, and actress Moana Pozzi, Giorgio Parodi who conceived the motorcycle company Moto Guzzi with Carlo Guzzi and Giovanni Ravelli. Some reports say the navigator & explorer Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot) is also from Genoa, others say he was from Savona. Saints from Genoa include Romulus, Catherine, and Paula Frassinetti, 80's singer, songwriter and actress Sabrina Salerno.

Shopping

Via XX Settembre is the main shopping street and runs between Piazza de Ferrari and Piazza della Vittoria. Mercato Orientale (Eastern Market) is an indoor food and produce market located on Via XX Settembre. Centro Storico (Historic Center) is the old city center with narrow, winding allies and many churches, mansions, shops, restaurants and bars.

Food

Popular foods local to Genoa include pesto, focaccia, farinata, stoccafisso (stockfish), and salsa di noci (walnut sauce).

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Genoa is twinned with:

See also

• Amoco Haven tanker disaster

• Genoese dialect

• Ligurian language

• Metropolitana di Genova

Bibliography

• Gino Benvenuti. Le repubbliche marinare. Amalfi, Pisa, Genova e Venezia. Netwon Compton, Rome, 1989.

• Steven A. Epstein; Genoa & the Genoese, 958-1528 University of North Carolina Press, 1996;

• Steven A. Epstein; "Labour and Port Life in Medieval Genoa." Mediterranean Historical Review 3 (1988): 114-40.

• Steven A. Epstein; "Business Cycles and the Sense of Time in Medieval Genoa." Business History Review 62 ( 1988): 238-60.

• Face Richard. "Secular History in Twelfth-Century Italy: Caffaro of Genoa." Journal of Medieval History 6 (1980): 169-84.

• Hughes Diane Owen. "Kinsmen and Neighbors in Medieval Genoa." In The Medieval City, edited by Harry A. Miskimin, David Herlihy, and Adam L. Udovitch, pp. 3–28. 1977.

• Hughes Diane Owen. "Urban Growth and Family Structure in Medieval Genoa." Past and Present 66 (1975): 3-28.

• Lopez Robert S. "Genoa." In Dictionary of the Middle Ages, pp. 383–87. 1982.

• Vitale Vito. Breviario della storia di Genova. Vols. 1-2. Genoa, 1955.

• Giuseppe Felloni - Guido Laura "Genova e la storia della finanza: una serie di primati ?" "Genoa and the history of finance: a series of firsts ?" 9 November 2004, ISBN 88-87822-16-6 (www.giuseppefelloni.it)