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Genoa

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: European Geography

                       Comune di Genova
               Coat of arms of Comune di Genova
   Municipal coat of arms
   Country               Italy Italy
   Region                Liguria
   Province              Genoa (GE)
   Mayor                 Giuseppe Pericu (since 2005- 05-30)
   Elevation             20 m
   Area                  243 km²
   Population
    - Total (as of 2006) 620,316
    - Density            2,553/km²
   Time zone             CET, UTC+1
   Coordinates           44°24′39″N, 08°55′56″E
   Gentilic              Genovesi
   Dialing code          010
   Postal code           16100
   Frazioni              Acquasanta, Vesima
   Patron                St. John the Baptist
    - Day                June 24

   Location of Genoa in Italy

                Website: www.comune.genova.it
   The Ancient Port of Genoa.
   Enlarge
   The Ancient Port of Genoa.

   Genoa ( Italian: Genova, Genoese: 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. 620,000 and the urban area
   has a population of ca. 890,000.

   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. Another definition which may be pertinent, is
   that the name 'Genoa' may be derived from Genua, founded by the two
   headed Giano, protector of ships and coins. This was a city of two
   faces, which looks both inland and towards the sea. Suffice to say that
   Genoa seems to be a locally and nationally accepted term, whereas
   Genova is more globally and internationally used. Unfortunately, the
   latter may lead to confusion with 'Geneva.'

Flag

   Flag of Genoa
   Enlarge
   Flag of Genoa

   The flag of Genoa is the St. George's flag, a red cross on a white
   field, exactly the same as that of England. It is possible that the
   flag of Genoa was adopted by England and the City of London in 1190 for
   their ships entering the Mediterranean to benefit from the protection
   of the powerful Genoese fleet. The maritime Republic of Genoa was
   rising and going to become, together with its rival Venice, one of the
   most important powers in the world. The English Monarch paid an annual
   tribute to the Doge of Genoa for this privilege. Between England and
   Genoa, two mercantile and sea-faring nations, there has always been a
   special, long-standing relationship. Genoa is generally regarded as
   "the most English town in Italy".

History

Ancient era and early Middle Ages

   Genoa's history goes back to ancient times. The first historically
   known inhabitants of the area are the Ligures, an Italic tribe. 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 harbour probably
   was in use much earlier, perhaps by the Etruscans. It is also probable
   that also 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.

   After the fall of the Roman Empire, Genoa was occupied by the
   Ostrogoths. After the Gothic War, the Byzantines made it the seat of
   their vicar. The Lombards submitted it in 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 paraefectus 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 centre, 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 & 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 the Duchy of Pisa at the
   naval Battle of Meloria (1284), and its persistent rival, Venice, in
   1298.
   View of Genoa around 1490.
   Enlarge
   View of Genoa around 1490.
   Medieval gates of Genoa is a rare survival of the city's golden age and
   its best known landmark.
   Enlarge
   Medieval gates of Genoa is a rare survival of the city's golden age and
   its best known landmark.
   Christopher Columbus monument in Piazza Acquaverde.
   Enlarge
   Christopher Columbus monument in Piazza Acquaverde.

   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 palazzi. 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 British 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 is one of the oldest cities of art in Italy. Its main features
   include 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, 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, 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 Museo d'Arte Orientale has
   one of the largest collections of Oriental art in Europe.

   Other than the old city sights, Genoa also has the second largest
   aquarium in the world which is located in the above-mentioned old
   harbour. The port of Genoa also contains an ancient lighthouse, called
   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.

   Porta Soprana

   Narrow and tall alleyways are common in Genoa

   La Lanterna

   Sunset over harbour with large ships.

   Ducal Palace

   Palazzo Doria

   Galleria Mazzini

   St. Lawrence Cathedral

Famous people

   Famous Genoese include navigators Cristoforo Colombo and Andrea Doria,
   composers Niccolò Paganini and Michele Novaro, astronaut Franco
   Malerba, pope Benedict XV, painter Domenico Piola, Italian patriots
   Giuseppe Mazzini 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, artists
   Guido Galletti and Vanessa Beecroft, comedians Gilberto Govi, Paolo
   Villaggio, Beppe Grillo, Luca Bizzarri, Paolo Kessisoglu, Maurizio
   Crozza; folk singers Fabrizio de André and Ivano Fossati, actor
   Vittorio Gassman, and actress Moana Pozzi. Some reports say Giovanni
   Caboto is also from there.

Demographics

   The population is 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)
     * Ecuadorians - 10,169
     * Albanians - 2,781
     * Moroccans - 2,189
     * Peruvians - 1,795
     * Chinese - 910
     * Romanians - 746

   The big "bigo" in the ancient port.
   Enlarge
   The big "bigo" in the ancient port.

Sister cities

     * United States Baltimore, Maryland, United States
     * United States Columbus, Ohio, United States
     * France Marseille, France
     * Greece Chios, Greece
     * Spain Huelva, Spain
     * Ukraine Odessa, Ukraine
     * Croatia Rijeka, Croatia
     * Ecuador Guayaquil, Ecuador

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genoa"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
