Liguria, Piedmont & Valle D'aosta

LIGURIA, PIEDMONT & VALLE D’AOSTA or thatinTurin you’re morethan aJuventus tobumpintoaTorinosupporter fan? likely Valley Walserminority,orthatCuneo’s mainsquare hasaGerman-speaking outsizes SanMarco, second fiddletootherlimelight-hogging highlightssuchasTuscany, Venice andRome. at theforefront ofItalianculture. Yet itfailstoexplainwhytheregion consistently plays list which,alongwithsomecerebral museumsandfinearchitecture, putsPiedmont-Liguria pher Columbus,theCountofCavour, Giovanni Agnelli andGiuseppeMazzini.It’sanillustrious while itsseasare awashwithanchovies, andprawns. octopuses pestoandwheatforaromaticfocaccia, arborio rice,grapesforBarolowine,basilearthy ofanyItaliandinnerplate culinarydelicaciesthatareriver – valleyharvest anintrinsicpart Piedmont hasalsoignited manyofItaly’sgastronomictraditions. The plainsofthePo fertile turn aroundandretreat backintoitsshell.Ontopofvaluablehistoricalrelics, Liguria- Emanuele II)anditsfirstcapital(Turin). enclaves (Vittorio northwestern thatalsogenerouslyprovided thenationwithitsfirstking Liguria, Piedmont andthe Valle d’Aostaare thecountry inmicrocosm:three culture-defining Cathedral-like mountains,Fiat football– cars,ritzyMediterranean andartistic resorts & Valle d’Aosta Piedmont Liguria, 192 © LonelyPlanet  The upsideisthere’s more elbowroomhere, andmore serendipity. Whoknewthatthe Aosta moversThrough theannalsofhistory,erstwhilenorthwestern includeChristo­ andshakers theRisorgimentodidn’tjust But, fresh fromkick-starting (Italianunification),thenorthwest       HIGHLIGHTS

4.4MILLION; VALLE D’AOSTA 127,000 POPULATION: LIGURIA 1.6MILLION;PIEDMONT

( p238) Barbaresco of withthewine-quaffers Compare themeritsofBaroloover Juventus orTorinoplayfootball Olimpico diTorino ( p232 ) inTurin watching Have areligious experienceatthe Milky Way inthetracksofOlympians throughthe Ski d’Aosta Walserinthemulticultural speaking Work outwho’sFrench, ItalianandGerman- Savona Find simpleserendipity atascenichostel in Maritime Alps pany ontheuntrammelledtrailsof Run tothehillswithonlyibexes forcom­

( p215) ( p245)

( p234)

( p237)

Stadio Valle Valle Alba



Milky Way SQKM;VALLE D’AOSTA 3262SQKM AREA : LIGURIA5413SQKM;PIEDMONT 25,399

Maritime Valle d'Aosta Alps Turin Alba Savona

LIGURIA, PIEDMONT & VALLE D’AOSTA

193 193 LIGURIA LIGURIA •• Genoa

meaning ‘door’. Founded in the ianua, meaning ‘door’. Founded The end of the Age of Exploration came as of the Age The end of Since hosting ExpoSince hosting cham­ 1992 and being Christopher Columbus is Genoa’s most In the 16th century, under the rule of In the 16th century, under the rule of Genoa northern city to rise was the first A victory over Venice in 1298 led to a Venice A victory over fore the arrival of Allied troops. After the war the Allied troops. After the arrival of fore the city developed rapidly along the coast, although, by the 1970s, decline had set in once industries folded. as big more Genoese dialect. Doria, Genoa bene­ Imperial Admiral Andrea exploration. Its from financing Spanish fited swelled further in the 17th century, coffers as walls added of saw ring which an outer the city expanded, and its newly built pal­ aces filled with art, in turn attracting masters Galeazzo as Rubens. Celebratedsuch architect the city’s (1512–72) designed many of Alessi splendid buildings. mercantile a blow and as the Mediterranean’s importance declined, so did Genoa’s. The city languished for centuries. against Nazi occupation and the Italian WWII, liberating itself during be­ Fascists History Genoa’s name is thought to come from the Latin 4th century BC, it was an important Roman occupied by Franks, Saracens and port and later Genoa’s defen­ ring of the Milanese. The first in the 12th century. walls was constructed sive these section walls, of (The only remaining Porta Soprana, was built in 1155, although version.) restored what you see a today is Monaco – hence the similar­ principality of Monegasque, to the Monaco’s language, ity of the 13th centuries before deferring to the to deferring before centuries the 13th Its crusading Piedmont. power of superior establishednoblemen once in the colonies Middle East Africa, and its em­ and North was St George, cross of the red blematic flag, the English. by hijacked greedily Culture, European City of pioned as 2004’s renova­ some radical Genoa has undergone now boast­ tions with its once-tatty port area Biosfera, aquarium and the ing Italy’s largest crammed with a dome-shaped greenhouse contrasting ecosystems. famous son (if indeed he was – see the period of growth, but bickering between growth, but bickering period of the Grimaldis, Dorias, Spinolas and other The dynasties caused chaos. internal Grimaldis headed west, establishing the

Deep in the maze of the gritty old town, Deep in the maze of

The Most Serene Republic of Genoa ruled The Most Serene Republic of Despite its diminutive size, Liguria has its diminutive Despite Only 7km wide at its narrowest point, Only 7km wide at its LIGURIA LIGURIA A sinuous arc of land wedged between wedged land arc of A sinuous the Mediterranean waves during the 12th to waves the Mediterranean sential fountain, Italy awaits – a glistening a and and tourists, with pigeons piazza packed the most spectacular cathedrals (San one of whole peninsula. on the Lorenzo) ways, while on the periphery the quintes­ that glimmer like a film noir movie set. Old a film noir movie that glimmer like and outside noisy bars languidly men smoke sentries stand in dark door­ prostitutes like beauty and the beast sit side-by-side in streets in streets beauty and the beast sit side-by-side of a once-great empire evident in its concealed empire a once-great of doorways and arty museums. Italians as Columbus and Mazzini, Genoa has Italians as Columbus and Mazzini, cosmopolitan remnants air, with a markedly are more reminiscent of a Moroccan of reminiscent (caruggi) more are cityscape. medina than a romantic Venetian groundbreaking such The birthplace of seedy underbelly; its narrow, twisting streets pop 604,800 GENOA around Cinque Terre remains a showcase for remains around Cinque Terre local produce. high-quality with possessions away as the Middle as far terrain East, terraced while the ingeniously played a major role in Italian culture. Genoa role in Italian culture. played a major was once a powerful independent city-state crammed with expensive yachts and Prada­ yachts crammed with expensive wearing prima donnas. resorts mingle with plusher palm-fringed re­ palm-fringed plusher mingle with resorts and Porto Venere, as Portofino such treats the east is the Riviera di Levante,the east is the Riviera di a swankier, busy where holiday strip precipitous more Ponente, a sun-flecked coastal Shangri La coastal Shangri that a sun-flecked Ponente, To with France. continues as far as the border Liguria is dominated by Genoa,Liguria is dominated Italy’s larg­ the Riviera di est port. To the west stretches above the foaming ocean. foaming the above tacle that reaches its apex in Cinque Terre: five five Terre: its apex in Cinque tacle reaches that that villages quintessential Ligurian fishing medieval crazily perched colonies dangle like ing as it is unique, with ancient settlementsing as it is unique, cliffs, to granite a spec­ clinging precariously Alps and Apennines cascade precipitously cascade precipitously Alps and Apennines is as strik­ The result into the Mediterranean. Piedmont and the sea, Liguria is where the the sea,Piedmont and is where Liguria lonelyplanet.com lonelyplanet.com Contrasting sharply with the elegance of Contrasting sharply with the elegance of port with a Turin, Genoa is a gargantuan