Liguria

I have been to this region many times, both in transit towards other destinations and on visits for pleasure or work; after all, little more than 15 km separate my town from Liguria. Immediately after the territorial border you are in the seaside resort of Marinella, from which in a short time you reach Luni, where the excavations of the ancient Roman city are found, its most important monument being the amphitheatre. Near the archaeological area there is a museum, while in the surroundings, on a school trip when I was a child, I happened to visit the helicopter centre of the Navy. Inland, Castelnuovo Magra is a village set on a hill with the remains of a fortress.

Much larger is the nearby castle of Sarzanello, on the hill dominating Sarzana, a city that gave birth to a Pope and probably also to Napoleon's forebears, and which preserves a decent historic centre with a fine main street, some interesting palazzi and a couple of beautiful churches. If, instead of taking the inland road, you follow the sea road, you pass through Bocca di Magra — as the name says, the mouth of the Magra river, a mooring place for small pleasure boats. Skirting the river mouth you climb to Monte Marcello along a road among pinewoods, opening up enchanting views. The characteristic fishing village of Fiascherino precedes the more famous Lerici, dominated by a castle. From here begins the Gulf of La Spezia, a port city and seat of the Navy Arsenal, which I visited together with the museum that preserves, among other things, numerous figureheads.

I have also been among the port's quays, poking about among the Navy's great ships; once I went aboard the "Scirocco", another time I saw the sailing ship "Amerigo Vespucci" there under refit. La Spezia also preserves a fortress set on a hill. At the other end of the gulf is Portovenere, a true jewel both for the man-made architecture and for its splendid position. The most beautiful thing is to arrive there by sea with the small ferries that go from Versilia to the Cinque Terre; the spectacle that opens before our eyes between the island of Palmaria and the promontory of Portovenere is sublime.

But it is also beautiful to stroll through the narrow, steep alleys, go up to the top of the hill where the church and the fortress stand, and visit the splendid little Ligurian church that faces the sea right at the tip of the promontory, between the island of Palmaria on one side and the Bay of Byron on the other. The three islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto are so close that you seem to brush against them. Continuing along the coast the beautiful Cinque Terre begin — fishing villages clinging to the hills that seem to extend into the sea, or is it perhaps the sea that penetrates the villages? The houses are in strong colours, almost as if wanting to be noticed from ships offshore. Riomaggiore, Manarola, Vernazza and Monterosso are all to be discovered; every corner is a pleasant surprise among alleys, characteristic little shops and polychrome churches.

Between Riomaggiore and Manarola there is a path carved into the rock called the "Via dell'Amore"; at one time it was probably the only link between the two villages, then came first the railway and then the road running high on the hills. But at the Cinque Terre it is beautiful to arrive from the sea, once the only means of access. Vernazza is splendid with its rock fortress set high on a rocky spur and a stilted church that partly extends into the sea. At Monterosso there is even a bit of beach, but to reach it you must cross a tunnel bored through the mountain; while sunbathing you can see the statue of the giant carved into the rock that marks the bathing area. Leaving the Cinque Terre and continuing along the coast you pass through Moneglia, another village whose houses lap the sea, as does the railway, which runs right by the beach.

Heading towards Genoa you meet seaside towns such as Chiavari and Rapallo before reaching the pretty Santa Margherita Ligure, a prelude to that jewel which is the Portofino promontory with its natural little harbour, where very expensive sailing boats and billionaires' yachts moor. The little harbour is surrounded by Ligurian houses in strong colours, cafés and high-fashion shops. The centre of the region houses Genoa, an aristocratic city in its historic centre and as popular as it gets in the alleys around the old port. The main streets lined with historic palazzi hide narrow caruggi. Genoa is rich in history: as a Savoy port it was the departure point of Garibaldi's Expedition of the Thousand; as a Maritime Republic it dominated half the Mediterranean; it gave birth to Mazzini, Mameli and Christopher Columbus.

The story of the discovery of the Americas and that of Italian Unification both saw the Ligurian capital as a protagonist. In Genoa I have seen the Palazzo Reale, the Palazzo Ducale and the Cathedral of San Giorgio, but going down to the old port is the most beautiful thing you can do in the city. The porticoes are still, as in past centuries, a cosmopolitan meeting place, fish market and bric-a-brac market. Since the Columbus celebrations the port has acquired new structures, which, however, do not alter its original appearance much. If on one side of the waterfront there is the old Palazzo del Banco di San Giorgio, on the other there follow one another the entrance to Europe's largest Aquarium, the panoramic lift, the glass sphere, the Galata Sea Museum, and the sailing ship built for Polanski's film "Pirates".

Visiting the Aquarium is a virtual dive into the oceans of the whole world, among enormous fish, penguins and manta rays to stroke. The fish swim around us, separated by glass walls. In front of the Aquarium is the glass biosphere, where you can take a short tour of a tropical forest complete with banana plants and colourful little birds. Not to be missed either is the Galata Sea Museum, to immerse ourselves in the world of seafaring and port docks; here you can try to steer a ship, cross Cape Horn aboard a little boat or take part in a cruise of the early 1900s — all, of course, virtual. Not far from here I visited the Palazzo del Principe Doria with its garden. From the old port the view can range over the Lanterna, symbol of the city, or, turning your back on the sea, over the hills that enclose it, where some villas built with medieval-castle architecture are found.

East of Genoa I have only visited Sanremo a couple of times; I stayed a few days in Ventimiglia and stopped briefly at Porto Maurizio. I came to Sanremo for the festival of the same name; it was the day before it began, the preparations were in full swing and the city was invaded by fans of this or that singer.