Genoa
Old Town
The historic center of Genoa is the core of the old city organized in the maze of alleys (caruggi) of medieval origin that runs – from east to west – from the hill of Carignano to the Genoa Piazza Principe FS train station, close to what was once the Palazzo del Principe, residence of Admiral Andrea Doria.
In view of the size of the original core of 1.13 km² (i.e., 113 hectares, the area of the Prè-Molo- Maddalena districts), it is sometimes considered the most extensive old town in Europe. In fact, this can be considered an urban legend, as it turns out to be less extensive than, for example, Rome (1,430 hectares) and Naples (the latter, at 1,700 hectares, the largest)but also Pisa itself (185 hectares).
Genoa
Aquarium of Genoa
The Genoa Aquarium is the largest aquarium in Italy, the second largest in Europe after Valencia Aquarium in Spain, and the ninth largest in the world. It is located at Ponte Spinola, in Genoa’s 16th-century old port.
The Aquarium was opened in 1992 on the occasion of the Colombiadi, or the Expo celebrating the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America. The design of the structure and surrounding area is by architect Renzo Piano, and the interior design is by architect Peter Chermayeff.
It was subsequently expanded several times. At the time of its opening, it was the second largest Aquarium in the world.
Since opening in 2014, it has been visited by more than 25 million visitors, averaging 1.2 million per year.
Genoa
The Old Port
Its repurposing was completed in the early 1990s on the surface of what was once the heart of port activity–the realm of the camels who were part of the Caravana Company–and had been effectively unused for many decades.
Today, its coves, which follow one another without a break, although they take on different names, make the Porto Antico Area, a vast square overlooking the sea, in which, in addition to the aquarium, numerous points of artistic, museum, tourist, fair and entertainment interest are located, over an area of more than 230,000 square meters, making it the largest square in the city, in front of Piazza della Vittoria, and the most important one together with it and Piazza De Ferrari.
