Liguria is a narrow, crescent-shaped region in northwest Italy, hugging the Mediterranean between the Alps, the Apennines, and the sea. Known as the Italian Riviera, it is famous for the five cliffside villages of the Cinque Terre, the glamorous harbour of Portofino, and the maritime city of Genoa. Liguria is also the birthplace of pesto, focaccia, and a culinary tradition built around the sea and the steep, terraced coast.
Historical timeline
Key moments that shaped Liguria.
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1
Roman Foundation of Luni
Rome founds the colony of Luni (Luna) at the mouth of the Magra river, a major port for shipping the white Apuan marble that built imperial Rome
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2
Lombard Conquest
King Rothari's Lombards capture and sack the Byzantine coastal cities of Liguria, including Genoa, ending Byzantine rule on the Riviera
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3
Genoa Joins the First Crusade
Genoese ships and crusaders help take Antioch and Jerusalem, winning trading privileges across the Levant and launching Genoa's maritime empire
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4
Battle of Meloria
Genoa decisively defeats rival Pisa off the coast near Livorno, securing dominance of the Tyrrhenian Sea and western Mediterranean trade
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5
Battle of Curzola
Genoa defeats Venice at Curzola in the Adriatic; among the prisoners is Marco Polo, who dictates his Travels while held in a Genoese jail
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6
Banco di San Giorgio Founded
Genoa establishes the Banco di San Giorgio, one of the world's earliest chartered banks, which finances the republic and governs Corsica and overseas colonies
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7
Andrea Doria's Republican Constitution
Admiral Andrea Doria allies Genoa with Habsburg Spain and reforms the republic into an aristocratic oligarchy, opening Genoa's golden age of banking
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8
Palazzi dei Rolli System
Genoa formalises the Rolli, a register of grand private palaces required to host visiting dignitaries of state, lining the Strade Nuove with Renaissance and Baroque mansions
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9
French Bombardment of Genoa
The fleet of Louis XIV bombards Genoa for refusing French demands; the Doge is forced to travel to Versailles to apologise to the king
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10
Genoa Cedes Corsica to France
Unable to suppress the Corsican revolt, the Republic of Genoa sells its claim to Corsica to France in the Treaty of Versailles
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11
Annexation to Piedmont-Sardinia
The Congress of Vienna ends the centuries-old Republic of Genoa and assigns Liguria to the Kingdom of Sardinia under the House of Savoy
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12
Garibaldi's Expedition of the Thousand
Giuseppe Garibaldi sails from Quarto near Genoa with around a thousand volunteers to conquer the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, a pivotal moment of Italian unification
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13
Palazzi dei Rolli Inscribed by UNESCO
Genoa's Strade Nuove and the system of the Palazzi dei Rolli are added to the UNESCO World Heritage List as a masterpiece of European urban planning
Historical sites
Places where Liguria's past comes alive.
Palazzi dei Rolli and Strade Nuove (UNESCO)
A system of 42 aristocratic palaces along Genoa's New Streets, built by the city's banking families and registered to host visiting heads of state, inscribed by UNESCO in 2006 for their integrated Renaissance and Baroque architecture.
Where: Via Garibaldi, Via Balbi and Via Lomellini, Genoa
Admission: Free to view exteriors; Musei di Strada Nuova combined ticket €9 (Palazzo Rosso, Bianco, Tursi)
Cattedrale di San Lorenzo
Genoa's striped black-and-white marble cathedral, consecrated in 1118, whose treasury holds relics brought back from the Crusades and an unexploded British naval shell that struck the church in 1941.
Where: Piazza San Lorenzo, Genoa
Admission: Cathedral free; Museo del Tesoro €6
Galata Museo del Mare
The largest maritime museum in the Mediterranean, set in Genoa's old port, tracing the city's seafaring history with a full-scale Genoese galley, a real submarine, and galleries on emigration and Atlantic crossings.
Where: Calata de Mari 1, Darsena, Genoa
Admission: €17 adults; €19 combined with submarine Nazario Sauro