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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.

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. 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 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 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.

Main sights

Genoa has the second largest old city in Italy which is worth while 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. 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 then 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 Soprana Image:Genoa_alley.jpg|Narrow and tall alleyways are common in Genoa Image:Lanterna di Genova.jpg|La Lanterna Image:Genoa_sunset.jpg|Sunset over harbor with large ships. Image:Genova-Palazzo Ducale da Piazza Matteotti.jpg|Palazzo Ducale Image:Genova-palazzodoria01.jpg|Palazzo Doria Image:Galleria Mazzini.jpg|Galleria Mazzini Image:Genovaduomo0001.jpg|Cattedrale di San Lorenzo

Famous people

Famous 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.

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. *

Immigrants by country (2004)

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Genoa".

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