When I started planning these surprise birthday trips to Italy, I immediately knew Genova would be high on the list. It’s one of those cities that are both rich in culture and history as well as food and scenery. It’s where the Italians come to vacay and international tourists to eat.

The second biggest port of the Mediterranean the capital of Liguria region, Genova, lies in the Gulf of Genoa in the Ligurian Sea.

The city has a long and rich history, as many other cities in Italy, and it bears the nickname la Superba or “the proud one’’.

Part of the old town of Genoa was enlisted in the World Heritage List (UNESCO) back in 2006.

 

The flag of Genova may remind you of the flag of England, but it’s actually the cross of St. George, a red cross on a white field.

It’s hard to say whether the Brits have borrowed or stole the Genoese flag but many historians believe that the English adopted the flag on their ships in late 1100 in order to benefit from the protection of the Genoese fleet.

And speaking of the fleet it’s hard not to mention the importance of the fact being a city by the sea.

Port city from early on, Genova established itself as the merchant capital of the new Republic of Genoa in 1005. It maintained its autonomy until 1797 when it was replaced by the French ruled Ligurian Republic.

Genoa always struggled to rule itself, with many inner conflicts among the nobility that weakened the Republic.

The fact that another maritime republic had it better didn’t help as well. Venetian Republic was a huge rival of Genova.

Although both of the republics had a great position at sea, Venetian Republic had slightly better odds when trading with the neighboring countries. Unlike Genova, Venice had both coasts of the Adriatic Sea covered. Genova only one side of the Italian peninsula.

At one point, it went so bad with the money for Genova that they had to sell Corsica to the French! Bet ya didn’t know that Corsica was Italian 🙂

The Black Death in 1348 was also a down-the-hill for everybody that’s for sure. It was the infected rats who brought it back on the merchandise ships sailing from from Crimea that killed 30% to 60% of Europe’s population.

But that’s all gone now and Genova is a prosperous metropolis with some leading Italian companies based in the city. I’m not going to go into falling viaducts, though 🙂

The flourishing economic trade between the Republic of Genoa and other parts of the world meant also the growth of the cultural exchanges. Many Flemish painters lived and painted in the city. The most prominent ones were Pieter Paul Rubens and Anton Van Dyck.

Christoforo Colombo was born and raised in Genova as well as one of the most famous comic strip sailors Corto Maltese written by Hugo Pratt while he lived in Genova in the late sixties.

When naming some famous Genovese men it’s hard to miss two of its architectural sons; the first one being humanist author, architect, poet and philosopher Leon Battista Alberti born in 1404 and the other is Renzo Piano, the author of the reconstruction of the Genovese ancient port.

The re adaptation of the Porto Antico was completed in the early nineties on the surface of what was once the center of the port activity.

Today the port is an open space of more than 230 000 square meters used for walking or sitting and enjoying the sun while looking at the calming sea.

The city is definitely a beautiful blend of old and the new, metropolitan and maritime at the same time. Visiting a port city in the winter means you still need to wear a thick jacket because when the wind blows the only place you can hide is a bar. Well, that’s not so bad after all but still you wanna see something, right? We had two beautiful sunny days during our stay and the low season meant no standing in line or no overbooked restaurants. Food again was our main point of interest but first some cityscape photos.

Fabrizio is best known for his sympathies towards anarchism, left-libertarianism and pacifism. His songs often featured marginalized and rebellious people, Romani, prostitutes and knaves, and he often attacked the Catholic Church hierarchy.

One of his song that puts the tear in my eye everytime is this one:

 

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ĐENOVA

Kad sam počela planiranje mojih rođendanskih putovanja u Italiju, na samom početku znala sam da će Đenova biti negdje visoko na popisu. Grad je to bogate kulturne i gastro povijesti. Mjesto gdje Talijani dolaze na ljetovanje, a inozemni turisti uživati u raznolikoj kulinarskoj ponudi.

Druga najveća luka na Mediteranu i glavni grad pokrajine Ligurije leži u Đenovskom zaljevu u Ligurskom moru.

Grad ima dugu i bogatu povijest, poput mnogi drugih talijanskih gradova, a nadimak mu je la Superba ili ponosan.

Dio starog grada Đenove upisan je na listu UNESCO-ve Svjetske baštine tamo negdje 2006. godine.

Iako vas đenoveška zastava sigurno na prvu podsjeća na onu englesku, radi se zapravo o križu Sv. Jurja, a radi se crvenom križu na bijeloj podlozi.

Teško je reći jesu li Britanci posudili ili ukrali đenovešku zastavu no brojni povjesničari vjeruju da su Englezi, zapravo, preuzeli zastavu za svoje brodove davne 1100 s namjerom da dobiju nekakvu zaštitu od đenoveške pomorske flote. Ne znam jel im koristilo. 

A kad smo već kod morske flote, teško je nespomenuti važnost mora za ovaj grad.

Đenova je oduvijek bila lučki i pomorski grad, a kao takva bila je centar Republike Đenove u srednjem vijeku, početkom 11. stoljeća. Autonomiju je uspjela održati sve do kraja 18. stoljeća kad je zamijenjena Ligurskom Republikom pod francuskom upravom.

Đenova je oduvijek nastojala ostati samostalna, bez obzira na brojne plemićke sukobe koji su zapravo slabili cijelu republiku.

Činjenica da je jednoj drugoj susjednoj pomorskoj republici sve polazilo za rukom nije bilo od pomoći.

Mletačka republika bila je ogroman rival Republici Đenovi.

Iako su obje republike ima sjajnu poziciju na moru, Mletačka republika bila je u maloj prednosti. Naime Mleci su držali obje strane Jadranskog mora, dok je Đenova imala samo južnu stranu apeninskog poluotoka.

U jednom trenu Đenova je toliko financijski potonula da su Francuskoj prodali Korziku! Tko je uopće znao da je bila talijanska?!

Crna smrt koja je sredinom 14. stoljeća pokosila pol Europe još je jedan negativan faktor u đenoveškoj povijesti. A sve je zapravo krenulo iz Đenove. Kad je došlo sa štakorima na trgovačkim brodovima koji su vozili do Krima i nazad.

No, bilo pa prošlo. Đenova je danas prosperitetna metropola gdje su smještena sjedišta nekih vodećih talijanskih kompanija. Na vijadukte koji padaju zbog loše izrade i održavanja neću se obazirati. Svima se dogodi, jel da? 🙂

Brzorastuća trgovačka razmjena između Republike Đenove nekad davno i drugih dijelova svijeta značio je rast i na kulturnom polju. Brojni flamanski slikari dolazili su raditi u Đenovu od kojih su najpoznatiji Pero Pavle Rubens i Ante Van Dyck.

Kristofor Kolumbo rođen je i odrastao u Đenovi baš kao i najpoznatiji strip junak moreplovac Corto Maltese, nastao krajem 60ih dok je Hugo Pratt živio u Đenovi.

Kad već nabrajamo slavne sinove Đenove ( jer žene se valjda nisu rađale) ne smijemo zaboraviti renesansnog autora, arhitekta, poetu i filozofa Lava Battistu Albertija i Renza Piana, autora rekonstruiranog dijela stare đenoveške luke.

Adaptacija koju je Reno izveo na Porto Antico završena je ranih 90ih na dijelu grada koji je nekad bio glavni dio lučke aktivnosti.

Danas je taj dio luke otvoren prostor od gotovo 230 000 kvadratnih metara koji lokalci i turisti koriste za šetnju, ljenčarenje i ispijanje hladnih osvježavajućih napitaka.

Đenova je divna kombinacija starog i novog, metropolitskog i ribarskog, pomorskog. Posjet lučkom gradu u prvom mjesecu godine znači ponijeti debelu jaknu, a ne kako sam ja naivno mislila jug je Europe, možemo i u kaputu….njnjnjnjnjnjnjnj….kad dune s planine moš se slikat. Negdje u baru 🙂 Doduše ni to nije loše, al nemre tako cijeli dan. Mora se nešto i vidjeti. Hvala Sv. Jurju imali smo dva dana lijepog sunčanog vremena koje smo iskoristili za šetnju na otvorenom, uspon na vidikovac i bauljanje po uskim uličicama starog grada.