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AREA:
5,410 sq km.
POPULATION:
1,609,013.
POPULATION DENSITY:
297 per sq km. CAPITAL:
Genoa
RELIGION: Roman Catholic with Protestant minorities.
TIME: GMT + 1 (GMT + 2 from last Sunday in March to Saturday
before last Sunday in September).
ELECTRICITY: 220 volts AC, 50Hz. |
320km
(200 miles) of rocky, wooded coastline
running from France to Tuscany, where
the Italian ‘boot’ begins. This is
the Italian Riviera, with ample
facilities for tourists even in the
smallest of ports. The coastal hills
are less developed.
Genoa
is the capital of Liguria, has long been
an important commercial and military
port. The medieval district of the city
holds many treasures, such as the Porta
Soprana (the old stone entrance
gate to the city), the Church of
Sant’Agostino (next to the Museo
dell’Architectura e Scultura Ligure),
the beautiful Church of San Donato,
the 12th-century Church of Santa
Maria di Castello and the Gothic Cattedrale
di San Lorenzo. Outside the
medieval district, Via Garibaldi,
where many of the city’s richest
inhabitants built their palaces, is a
beautiful walk, with Palazzo Podesta,
Palazzo Bianco (now an art gallery
with paintings by Van Dyck and Rubens)
and the magnificently decorated Palazzo
Rosso (adjacent to Palazzo Bianco
and housing paintings by Titian,
Caravaggio and Dürer). A tour (once
daily in the afternoon) around the
Genoa harbor is available, and the city
is also recommended for its excellent
shopping opportunities.
Ligurian resorts are very
popular with holidaymakers. Portofino
is one of the best known, with its
small picturesque harbor full of sleek
pleasure yachts, luxury clothes shops,
its romantic villas owned by the rich
and famous perched on the hillside and
the Castello di San Giorgio,
sitting high up on a promontory with
magnificent views of the Portofino harbor
and bay. The beach at Santa
Margherita Ligure, just 5km (3
miles) south of Portofino, is an
excellent place to swim, with an almost
fairytale swimmer’s-eye view of the
surrounding cliffs and villas from the
warm and crystal-clear aquamarine
water. Nearby Rapallo, 8km (5
miles) south of Portofino, is a less
fashionable but more reasonable town to
stay in and is recommended for those
seeking a more lively alternative to
the quieter and more exclusive resorts
of Portofino and Santa Margherita. A list of other resorts in this region
is included below.
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