Genoa, Italy – Tour Liguria
Posted June 6, 2008 by:
Comments(0)I Love Touring Italy – Genoa
If you are looking for a European tourist destination,
consider the Liguria region of northern Italy, commonly
known as the Italian Riviera. This thin strip of land lies
on the Ligurian Sea, not far from Monaco and the French
Riviera. While Liguria is by no means undiscovered, its
crowds are much smaller than those next door. This
beautiful region is home to many little towns or villages,
and the international port city of Genoa almost at the center of the coast. This sometimes beautiful,
sometimes ugly city of about 600,000 people calls
itself La Superba (the Proud). Be sure to read the other
articles in this series: eastern Liguria, western Liguria,
and Cinque Terre, five little seaside villages that just
might steal your heart.
Given its excellent location and great harbor, the city of
Genoa has been around for thousands of years. Over its long
history Genoa was destroyed on several occasions. Early in
the Eleventh Century the city Genoa became the Republic of
Genoa, an independent city-state. At its high point this
republic controlled Liguria, Piedmont, Sardinia, and
Corsica. Genoa was a major player in the Crusades, and
established colonies in the Middle East, in the Aegean, in
Sicily, and Northern Africa. Genoese Crusaders brought home
a green glass goblet from the Levant, which many Genoese
consider to be the Holy Grail.
Times changed and by the Seventeenth Century Genoa was no
longer a major power. In 1797 Napoleon conquered Genoa and
it was annexed to France a few years later. Genoa is proud
to have liberated itself from French rule, but before long
it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Sardinia. Another
proud moment in Genovese and Italian history occurred in
1860 when Giuseppe Garibaldi set out from Genoa with over a
thousand volunteers to launch his successful campaign for a
united Italy.
Genoa has so many attractions that we present a list,
grouped by general area. Check off what you want to see and
then with a map plan your own itinerary. We are regrouping
the sites into three locations, south, north, and the port
area plus our starting point. When we say south we mean
south of Caruggi, Genoa’s medieval center, the largest such
district in all Europe. Its tiny cobblestoned streets are
a-maze-ing. Walk around for a few hours; you won’t be
disappointed.
The Twelfth Century San Matteo Church just south of Caruggi
contains the tomb of Andrea Doria, Genoa’s second most
famous sailor whose family ruled the area for several
centuries way back when. The Piazza San Matteo was their
stomping ground. The main palace was given as a gift to
Andrea Doria for being such a good sailor, defeating many
enemies. You should consider visiting several other
churches south of Caruggi including the Twelfth Century
Duomo (Cathedral) San Lorenzo (St. Lawrence) with its San
Lorenzo Treasury Museum home to a medieval silver and gold
collection.
The Twelfth Century twin towers known as Porta Soprana mark
the spot where an ancient Roman road entered the city.
According to legend Christopher Columbus’s father was a
gatekeeper there. His alleged boyhood home is nearby. Some
claim that it’s a reconstruction and only worth a few
minutes of your time, if at all. But you should see the
towers.
The Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa’s opera house, was
originally built in the Nineteenth Century. Even though the
famous opera composer Verdi spent some forty winters in
Genoa, he had little connection with this building. He
declined to compose an opera for the 1892 commemoration of
Columbus’s first voyage to America, saying that at the age
of nearly 80 he was too old. This reason sounds good to me
except that during the following year his very successful
comic opera Falstaff first opened. Every year the Niccolo
Paganini Violin Contest is held in this opera house.
Now we move north of Caruggi, Genoa’s medieval center.
We’ll start in the same way as our southern tour ended, by
looking at palaces. Via Garibaldi is a street just loaded
with palaces; I counted fourteen but I may have missed some
little ones. Let’s look at three of them. The Sixteenth
Century Palazzo Doria Tursi is the largest palace on the
street. Constructed for a Genovese banker it later belonged
to the Doria family before becoming the town hall. The
Sixteenth Century Palazzo Bianco (White Palace) was given
to the city of Genoa in 1894 on condition that it become an
art gallery. The neighboring Seventeenth Century Palazzo
Rosso (Red Palace) has also become an art museum hosting
works by Titian, Van Dyck, and many others.
San Siro, Genoa’s oldest church, was its cathedral from the
Fourth to the Ninth Centuries. As befits its age it’s dark
inside. The Sixteenth Century Baroque Bascilica of the Most
Holy Saint Annunziata was built outside the city walls. It
has a beautiful dome and lots and lots of great frescoes.
Genoa is proud of several distinctive transportation
methods that you might take just for the views, each unique
in its own way. The Genova-Casella Railway goes from the
northeastern Piazza Manin city center through the hilly,
rugged and scenic countryside surrounding the city to the
little town of Casella, population about three thousand,
some nine miles (fourteen kilometers) to the northeast.
Genoa’s three different funicular (cable car) systems each
offer great views of the hills that surround the city.
And now for the port. Even if you are not into visiting
ports, you really should see Genoa’s harbor. It’s the
largest in Italy, handling a full 10% of all port traffic
within the country. It’s fairly safe, especially if you
don’t wander around deserted areas at night. Since the 1992
celebration of Christopher Columbus’s initial trip to
America (he certainly didn’t discover this hardly
uninhabited part of the world) it has become a major
cultural center. In October the Salone Nautico
Internationale (International Boat Show) Europe’s biggest
takes place. We’ll make a few stops to see some of the
highlights starting with Il Bigo west of Caruggi and work
our way north.
Il Bigo is a distinctive monument built for the 1992
Columbus commemoration. Take the Bigo Panoramic Elevator
for an exceptional view of Genoa and its surroundings. If
you so desire, you can ice skate in winter at the rink next
door.
The Acquario de Genova (Genoa Aquarium) is the biggest in
Europe and second in the world, after Osaka, Japan. This is
one of the most visited museums in all Italy. Its huge
tanks reproduce the environment of the Mediterranean Sea
and the oceans and contain over six hundred species.
There’s even a hummingbird room. The Galata Sea Museum
shows the evolution of the port and the city starting from
the late Medieval period to the present. In its Sala della
Tempesta (Tempest Room) a ship simulator lets visitors
experience the thrill of navigating a small boat through a
heavy storm.
What about food? Liguria is most famous for its pesto,
claimed to be the best in the world. It’s simple to make,
take a mortar and pestle and combine basil, olive oil, pine
nuts, garlic, and Parmesan cheese. Don’t break a Ligurian’s
heart, don’t make it in a blender. Serve with fresh pasta.
And don’t forget the wine.
Let’s suggest a sample menu, one of many. Start with Zuppa
di Acciughe (Anchovy Soup). Then try Cima alla genovese
(Cold Stuffed Breast of Veal.) For dessert indulge yourself
with Amaretti (Almond Cookies.) Be sure to increase your
dining pleasure by including local wines with your meal.
We’ll conclude with a quick look at Liguria wine. Liguria
doesn’t have a lot of room for wine grapes. It ranks 19th
among the 20 Italian regions for the acreage devoted to
wine grapes and for total annual wine production. About 34%
of its wine is red or rosé, leaving 66% white. The
region produces eight DOC wines. DOC stands for
Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which may be
translated as Denomination of Controlled Origin, presumably
a high-quality wine. About 14% of Ligurian wine carries the
DOC designation.
Val Polcevera DOC is the only DOC wine in the Genoa area.
It seems to be a grab bag classification; there are eight
different styles many of which have subdivisions. Red,
white, rosé; dry, sweet; still, fizzy, sparkling, you
name it they have it. But you have to go to Liguria or
perhaps neighboring regions of Italy to taste any of them.
To tell the truth, there are many better reasons for
visiting this lovely area.
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Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten books on
computers and the Internet, but he prefers drinking fine
Italian or other wine, accompanied by the right foods and
people. He knows about dieting but now eats and drinks what
he wants, in moderation. He teaches classes in computers at
an Ontario French-language community college. His new wine,
diet, health, and nutrition website
http://www.wineinyourdiet.com links to his other sites and picture frames .
Welcome back!
Tags: italy