Alternate uses, see Genoa (disambiguation).

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Flag of Genova

Genoa (Italian Genova (jen'o-vah), Genoese Zena (zay'nah), French Gênes) is a city and a seaport in northern Italy, the capital of Liguria. It has a population of ca. 700,000.

Genua was a city of the Ligurians. Faithful to Rome while other Ligurian and Celtic peoples of modern N Italy stood by Carthaginians in the Second Punic War, Genoa lost its importance as a port city after the rise of Vada Sabatia, near Savona.

Christopher Columbus monument in Genoa.

During the Middle Ages, Genoa was an independent and powerful republic (one of the so-called Repubbliche Marinare, the others being Venice, Pisa, and Amalfi) mainly oriented on the sea. The Republic of Genoa extended over modern Liguria and Piedmont. It had several colonies in the Mideast, in the Black Sea, in Sicily, Sardinia and Northern Africa. It possessed the island of Corsica.

Famous Genoese families such as the Dorias had practically complete control of the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The Republic became part of the French Empire until 1815, when the delegates at the Congress of Vienna sanctioned its incorporation into Piedmont (Kingdom of Sardinia.)

Famous Genoese are Christopher Columbus, admiral Andrea Doria, violinist Nicolò Paganini and Italian patriot Giuseppe Mazzini.

In July of 2001, in opposition to the G8 Economic International Summit, the Genoa Social Forum brought half a million protesters from all around Europe to Genoa (see Genoa Group of Eight Summit protest).

• The port of Genoa is the first in Italy. It ranks second in the Mediterranean after Marseille, France.
• The Aquarium of Genoa is the largest in Europe.
• Other landmarks of the city are the Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace), St. Lawrence Cathedral (Cattedrale di San Lorenzo), The Old Harbor (Porto Antico), transformed into a mall by architect Renzo Piano, Via Garibaldi with its superb palaces.

For 2004, the European Union designated Genoa as European Capital of Culture, along with the French City of Lille.

External links

• Genova, European Capital of Culture 2004 (http://www.genova-2004.it)
• Photos of Genoa (http://digilander.libero.it/fotogian/genova.html)