ItalianoIT

Keep a little mystery in your trip planning: flip this switch on and Explorer Picture Mode shows a stylized version of every place instead of the real photo, so you can go by the description and reviews first and picture it your own way -- turn it off again any time, or reveal the real photo for just one place at a time from its own page.

Create a free account to pick your own style (Vintage, Oil Painting, Illustration, and more) and have it remembered next time you visit.

World Europe Italy Liguria Learn

Liguria

Learn about Liguria

Introduction

Changed

Liguria is a narrow curve of coastline between the Ligurian Sea and the Ligurian Alps and Apennines, so tight in places that towns are built vertically up the hillside rather than spreading outward -- there simply isn't flat ground to spread onto. Genoa, its capital, was for centuries the seat of the Republic of Genoa, a maritime power that rivaled Venice and Pisa for control of Mediterranean trade routes; Christopher Columbus was born here, a documented fact rather than a tourist claim.

The coast splits into two stretches known locally as the Riviera di Levante (east of Genoa, toward La Spezia) and the Riviera di Ponente (west, toward the French border). The Riviera di Levante includes the Cinque Terre, five cliffside fishing villages -- Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore -- now a UNESCO World Heritage site and a national park, and genuinely one of the region's most crowded destinations in peak season. Pesto alla genovese, made with basil, pine nuts, garlic, and cheese, originates here.

Geography

Changed

Liguria is a narrow, curved strip of land pressed between the Ligurian Sea and the Ligurian Alps and Apennines, so steep in places that towns and farmland alike are built as terraces cut into the hillside rather than spread across open ground.

Read the full Geography guide →

History

Changed

Genoa was the seat of the Republic of Genoa, a maritime and trading power that for centuries rivaled Venice and Pisa for control of Mediterranean shipping routes, and the documented birthplace of Christopher Columbus. Its decline began as Atlantic trade routes overtook Mediterranean ones after the age of exploration, and the region only became part of unified Italy in 1861.

Read the full History guide →

Culture

Changed

Liguria's food culture is built around what its terraced hillsides and coastline actually produce -- basil for pesto alla genovese, olive oil, and focaccia -- while Genoa's own maritime history and dense historic center give the region's culture a different character from the fishing-village image of the Cinque Terre.

Read the full Culture guide →

Climate Patterns

Changed

Liguria's narrow coastal strip has an unusually mild Mediterranean microclimate for how close it sits to the Alps, sheltered enough that palm trees and citrus grow along a coastline that would otherwise be expected to feel more like northern Italy.

Read the full Climate Patterns guide →

Food & Traditional Cuisine

Changed

Read the full Food & Traditional Cuisine guide →

← Back to Liguria overview