Genoa Travel Guide

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Genoa Travel Guide
Edit This The best resource for sights, hotels, restaurants, bars, what to do and see
Genoa was founded before the Romans. It was very important in ancient times and it was one of the Sea Republics to rule navigation along all known seas around 1100-1300. It is the birthplace of Christopher Columbus, and part of his living home still remains in the center of the town.
Genoa is the most important town in the Ligurian/Italian Riviera, a well renown holiday resort famous all over Europe. It has 700.000 population and was a very important industrial town.
Now many things are changing towards a better use of the territory with a keen view to the environment and so becoming more interesting for tourists.
Coming in the Ligurian area the town is really worth a visit as many ancient Renaissance buildings, famous museums and very good restaurants are all within an easy reach. The Old Town is the biggest in Europe and one of the best preserved old cities in the world. Great palaces, property of the ancient powerful Genoa families are now museums open to the public. Genoa has been elected Cultural Capital for the year 2004 by the European Parliament Commission.
_____Sights
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Many places and sights are worth a visit in Genoa, especially in the old city centre. It is the largest in Europe and can only be explored properly on foot because the ancient streets between the improbably tall houses are too narrow and busy for other modes of transport. Wandering the web of streets is worth it though for the sheer pleasure of all the Palaces, churches, squares and little cafes and food shops one comes across. The museums and National galleries and the ancient palaces to important cathedrals should be seen too. One could start with the "The Palazzo Ducale". This was once the ancient home of the head of the Genoa Republic and it has recently been completely restored. The building is now full of exhibitions, currently running until May is "El Siglos de los Genoveses" about the most interesting period of the Genoa Republic with paintings from all over the world and many other very interesting things - meetings, festivals and other interesting things all year round. The palace stands by itself and when visiting some of the ancient private rooms, now open to the public during special occasions, really shows all the magnificence of the ancient Genoa Sea Republic.
The Genoa Acquarium should not be missed. The spectacular sea and under sea world now in the reach of everyone. It is the biggest in Europe and is the third biggest tourist attraction in Italy.
A visit is due to the Genoa National Cemetery, an open air historical sculptures musem, probably the most important in Europe of this kind.
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The San Lorenzo Cathedral
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photo by: joost
Situated in the centre of the medieval city the San Lorenzo Cathedral is surrounded by buildings of great religious and civil value: the baptistery, the archbishop's palace, the San Lorenzo cloister and the ducal palace. The cathedral, in the past close, in between backstreets and tiny squares, was isolated during the nineteenth century with the creation of the Piazza Matteotti Square and Via San Lorenzo and the enlargement of the Piazza San Lorenzo.
type: general
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Museum of Natural History
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The insect collections are particularly remarkable and they include hymenoptera, coleoptera, hemiptera, lepidoptera, orthoptera, odonata. Among the other invertebrates, there are remarkable collections of molluscs, arachnids and sponges. Among the vertebrates there many bird specimens (birds of paradise, parrots, kingfishers, cassowaries). Among the mammals: marsupials, bats, exotic rodents and African antelopes. The reptilian collections consist of 7,000 specimens belonging to 1,400 diffferent species; the fish collection consists of 2,000 species. I learnt a great deal from the more..
type: Museums
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address: Via Brigata Liguria, 9
openinghours: 9-12 and 15-17.30 - closed Mon. and Fri.
tel: +39 (0)10 - 564567
openingHours: None
url: None
The lighthouse symbol of the city
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"La Lanterna", the lighthouse symbol of the city, is easily visible from many viewpoints. Considering that it was and still is the port beacon, it is mainly visible from the sea. Already in medieval times the site where the "Lanterna" rises was known as Capo di Faro viz. Beacon Promontory. The lighthouse, 117 meters above sea level, radiates its light up to 36 nautical miles distance. In the district of San Beningno, neighbouring on the new office district, it marks entrance to the city to visitors arriving from the west. The "Lanterna" lighthouse is one of the most ancient still more..
type: general
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Palazzo Bianco Gallery
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The gallery is housed in a 16th-century building, restored in the 18th century; it keeps works by Italian artists (Filippino Lippi, Caravaggio, Procaccini, Morazzone), Flemish (Memling, Gérard David, Rubens, Van Dyck), Spanish (Murillo, Zurbaran) alongside 16th to 18th-century Genoese painters as Luca Cambiaso, Bernardo Strozzi, G.B. Castiglione, Domenico Piola and Alessandro Magnasco. Remarkable exhibits: Christ and the Coin by Van Dyck, Venus and Mars by Rubens and a cope made in Constantinople in 1261.
type: Museums
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address: via Garibaldi, 11
tel: +39 (0)10 - 2476377
Palazzo Rosso Gallery
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Opened to the public in 1874, the gallery is located in a 17th-century building frescoed by the major Genoese painters (De Ferrari, Guidobono, Piola); it houses paintings by Veronese, Reni, Guercino, Preti, Castiglione, Strozzi, Rubens alongside furniture and a collection of porcelain items, Genoese pottery, crib statuettes. There is also a Prints and Drawings Room and a collection of 200,000 photos. The musuem is free to enter on sundays though you still need an entry ticket, as for any other day, from the book shop across the road.
type: Museums
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address: Via Garibaldi 18
openinghours: Tues., Thur. and Fri. 9-13, Wed. and Sat. 9-19, Su
tel: +39 (0)10 - 2476368
_______History
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The origins of Genoa go back to pre-Roman age. In the year 205 B.C. it was then destroyed by them and rebuilt from the hill of S. Maria di Castello, the main point to control the sea harbour. After barbaric and saracenic invasions it reorganized its fleet and participated to the Crusades setting up colonies all over the Mediterranean sea. In the year 1162 it became an indipendent town and took possess of the 2 Rivieras. Successfully winnings along the sea made Genoa a wealthy and magnificent city.
After the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus and the loss of the colonies the town struggled mainly on land for its possessions all along Liguria. The Republic was annexed to France in 1805 and after 1814 Genoa and Liguria became united under the Kingdom of Sardinia. The town was then on the front line, - with men like Garibaldi and Mazzini - to fight for the unification of Italy. Genoa had with its harbour and the inland an important role during the 2nd World War. History and the human events during the course of centuries left ineffaceable marks on Genoa.
The city boasts an architectural, artistic, and cultural wealth of exceptional amplitude and value. It merges the singolar quality of its medieval nuclei with the industriousness of the port and different other activities and offering landscapes and natural panoramas of unsurpassed beauty. The Ligurians, ancestors of the Genoise people were here before the Romans. They where living from the land near the now Tuscany border, all through the actual Liguria and down to France. Genoa was one of the 4 ancient Sea Republics. Its power was so strong to arrive to lend money and ships even to the English crown. Part of the English flag (one of the crosses) is the Genoa flag, remembering ancient treaties regarding the use of our flag on ships in order to avoid conflicts with other nations as they were all frightened by the Genoa Ships.
With the Industrial Revolution Genoa was for a long time one of the three major industrial cities in Italy. Genoa's harbour is the biggest in Italy and, alternatively by the years, the most important in the whole Mediterranenean area. Nowadays with the 2000 jubilee year Genoa is also one of the most important passage ways. For this occasion many old beautiful churches and buildings have been restored to allow all the interested tourists and modern pilgrims to know ancient and modern uses together with very interesting historical, religious and social aspetcs.
The town - after its history - boasts today an architectural, artistic, cultural wealth and different other activities offering landscapes and natural panoramas together with the tipical regional cousine in many cases with historical and classical very interesting dishes wich recipes that dated back to ancient times but still very famous nowadays.
__________Practical Information
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historical
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alex crispin
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it is part of the industrial triangle
type: Tourist information
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zipcode: rm12 4pp
tel: 01708 457760
email: d.crispin@ntlworld.com
address: 162 warren drive elmpark essex england
___________Getting Around
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Getting around Genoa is quite easy as the town is a kind of rainbow stripe between the sea and the mountains. Once you have fixed some main base points, the modern Expo area, for example, or the Romanic cathedral of San Lorenzo or if you go further by car the Lanterna, the ancient light at the entrance of the port, symbol of the town, you can easily go around. Not many street people know the English language but you can find around the main town sites traffic wardens with the languages flags on the arm. You can also ask information to public museums or palaces officials where people can speak different languages.
Along the streets also ask young people who now with computers and internet and good language lessons at school might be able and happy to help you or sometime carry you around. In the old town now live people from many West European and African countries so you can find cultures with different speaking languages. If you have difficulties or problems you can phone to the AITI (Italian Translators and Interpreters Association) Genoa office where you can get in touch with the persons of particular languages and field branches You can also have help by members.
Going around by car is nice so you can easily take a view of the town. Within an easy reach you can get up to the hills and to see the whole town with its beautiful coast. Things are getting worse if you plan to go viewing or shopping around the center. It is better to park in the allowed areas (there is also a parking area for foreigners in P.za Matteotti but it is quite small) and go by bus or just walking.
Going around by bus is perhaps the best choice. One ticket costs 1.500 It. Liras, (0.75 Euro) and it lasts for 1 and half our all around the town including the tube. There are special tickets in accordance to the period you intend to go around during the day or the week or the month. Tickets are not sold on the bus but you can find them at newsagents, tobacconists, and many other shops around town.
Genoa has a small tube line which runs only in one part of the town. So if you do not have particular places to go that are specifically mentioning the tube, forget about it. You can go around the town by bicycle. It is a very good personal choice but while it is nice (apart from traffic cars) around the outskirt and the riviera of the town, it is not quite so in the town center and besides you can inhale more benzine in this way than going walking or by car.
Deserve yourself a good town trekking walking pair of shoes and you can really start a nice visit full of interesting things. Unless you are particularly interested in special subjects, one day is enough to have a general view of the center. Then you can plan in detail which place you prefer to see best. Remember that many places have cumulative entrance tickets. For example if you want to see the Acquario di Genova and then going to see something at Palazzo Ducale (which are very near) you can have just one ticket for both at special price. So always ask for the tours valid for that day.
Enrico Pelos, Genoa editor, Liguria (general) editor, world66.com, Genoa, Italy.
pelos@tn.village.it
http://www.global.village.it/~pelos/index.htm
__________Getting There
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You can get to Genoa by land, sea, air and ... on foot. The "Riviera dei fiori" highway runs all along the Italian Riviera from Ventimiglia to Albenga and then it takes you to Genoa. Two other main roads can take to the town from the Turin and Milan higways. You can also use the regional roads around Liguria, they make you run slower but in change they give you the possibility to meet interesting villages and towns, and to enjoy the food and the people. Best seasons to go around by car are Spring and Autumn as summer is often a queing up to the beaches. You can have air flight to Genoa Airport from some of the European major cities and from all over the world through Milano airport which is about 150 km far away. From Genoa airport all the main towns are connected by main roads and highways. You can as well come by sea as some of the most important shipping & cruising companies have their South Europe branch here. Genoa is also backed with a very good net of cycling and trekking paths along the coast and in the inland. Even if you are not an expert walker or a professional cyclist you can stop in some hotels nearby, and go to destination. During summer time a good way is to use the train. They are not expensive, they travel almost everywhere and they show you all the coast, while arriving to town, with all the beaches and villages, just sitting and looking out of the windows.
Enrico Pelos, Genoa editor, Liguria (general) editor, world66.com, Genoa, Italy.
pelos@tn.village.it
http://www.global.village.it/~pelos/index.htm
___________Expo
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The Expo Area was created in 1992. The area once part of the port was almost abandoned and thanks to the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America by Cristopher Columbus was completely redesigned and restored by the architect Renzo Piano - who works in this town - probably the most famous in the world. The area is full of many and interesting activities like cinemas, library, shops and videogames, and it has its main attraction in the acquarium which is the biggest in Europe and one of the most important in the world. With more than a million people visiting every year it is now the third visited place in Italy and one of the best attractions in Europe. It is also one of the main world centers for the study of sea habitat species getting the people to know also about enviroment and its defense.
Other things should not be missed like the Sea and Navigation Pavillion with exibitions of life of sea and man during the centuries and the "Neptune" Galleon the one from "Pirate" film by Roman Polansky with very special realistic effects. The area is facing the historical centre, the biggest in Europe, with typical shops with real bargains for everybody infact is also most used by the Genoese. Many events occure in the nearby places one of which the "Palazzo Ducale" is doing often exibitions with a special price ticket discount for expo area visitors so ask as you enter specifyng what you are planning to see, may be you find a nice surprise. Typical eating place are in the expo area and outside where you can find some typical restaurants.
Enrico Pelos, Liguria editor, Osinga.com, Genoa, Italy.
pelos@tn.village.it
http://www.global.village.it/~pelos/index.htm
___________Aquarium
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Genoa Aquarium is the biggest in Europe and one of the most important worldwide, and with one and a half million visitors each year it is one of Europe's leading cultural attractions.
The Aquarium's 70 tanks reproduce marine and terrestrial habitats from throughout the world and provide a home for more than 6000 animals belonging to 600 different species. While it is first and foremost a tourist attraction, the Aquarium also has a mission to increase public awareness of environmental problems.
Contributors
May 05, 2005 change by pontillio26
May 07, 2005 change by giorgio
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The galleon
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The galleon "Neptune", the principal setting for Roman Polanski's film "Pirates" is the fruit of several years' research and hard work. Intended originally as no more than a simple "floating stage", through the impetus given by the film producer Mr Tarak Ammar is turned into an authentic three-master of some size (62 metres long by 16 metres wide) capable of sailing on the high seas at a speed of 5 knots. Building the "Neptune" took two years and cost 8,2 million dollars. The galeon was assembled in Tunisia and launched in march 1985. Carthago films decided to convert the more..
type: general
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The Sea and Navigation Pavilion
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It is a permanent exhibition with mock-ups illustrating different aspects of seafaring life over the centuries. On display: the 17th-century trader's house, with Flemish and Italian furniture and paintings and books of maps printed in Antwerp; a street of the old Genua with its sefaring craftsmen's shops; a 19th-century shipyard with the carpenter's shop, the drawing room and the offices. Also on display: models, paintings, riggings and instruments. A room devoted to weapons and armours in being arranged.
type: general
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___________Events
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Festivals and major annual events of many types are held all around Genoa. A very important boat show (it is said to be the most important in the world) is held periodically in October. Theatre major events are held in all the year round and in many Italian Riviera towns and villages during summertime. One of the major events held every 4 years - the most important appointment for all flower lovers - is the "Euroflora" Exibition.
Enrico Pelos, Genoa editor, Liguria (general) editor, world66.com, Genoa, Italy.
pelos@tn.village.it
http://www.global.village.it/~pelos/index.htm
_________Things to do
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Mauro
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Do not miss Cable Car!!! It reallly has a very short track which depart from Piazza Portello and head to Spianata Castelletto. Go there at noon or early evening, just when it not completely dark but there is no longer enough light... Amazing!
type: Hiking
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email: info@kayaklombardia.com