LIGURIA

LIGURIA. -

I. GEOGRAPHY

It is, among the Italian regions, the smallest in area (5,411 sq. km), but one of the most densely populated and economically important. It corresponds to the southern slopes of the Ligurian Alps and Apennines, with small sections of the northern slopes, and thus forms the natural outlet to the Mediterranean not only for the wealthiest part of the Po Valley but also for a considerable sector of Central Europe.

The mountains rise steeply above a rocky coast or narrow strips of beach. Arable land is scarce, but it is remarkably well utilized (fruit, early produce, flowers, vegetables); commerce (ports, railways) and industry (shipbuilding, metallurgy, mechanical, and textile) animate the activity of a population almost entirely concentrated (only 10% of the population is dispersed in Liguria) along the narrow coastal strip. Along with neighboring Lombardy, Liguria is the only Italian region in which the highest percentage of the active population is engaged in industrial activity (38%). The exceptionally mild climate and the beauty of the landscape make this region a succession of renowned winter and summer health resorts. The major inhabited centers generally correspond to Roman settlements; two of them exceed 100,000 inhabitants and constitute one the most active commercial port (Genoa), the other (La Spezia) the first military port of Italy.

| Population |
|------------|
| Number of | Area in | Population as of |
| municipalities | sq. km | 1 Jan. 1949 |
| Absolute | Density |
| 1000 inhab. | per sq. km |

| Provinces and capitals | Number of | Area in | Population as of |
| (population in 1000 inhab. 1949) | municipalities | sq. km | 1936 |
| Genova (673) | 67 | 1,823 | 867,608 |
| Imperia (30) | 61 | 1,155 | 158,470 |
| La Spezia (124) | 32 | 885 | 221,634 |
| Savona (72) | 69 | 1,548 | 219,108 |
| Liguria | 229 | 5,411 | 1,466,820 |

LIGURIA - 1) State boundaries; 2) regional boundaries; 3) provincial boundaries; 4) ecclesiastical district boundaries; 5) roads; 6) railways; 7) oratories; 8) parishes; 9) abbeys.

II. HISTORY

The region takes its name from the ancient Ligurian people, of Mediterranean stock, who centuries before the 3rd century B.C. (when the Romans began their advance northward) occupied a large part of northern Italy and southern France, extending even into the Iberian Peninsula. In Roman antiquity, the name Liguria also extended to the Po Valley south of the Po and to the east, the upper Taro Valley and the middle Trebbia Valley; within these boundaries, Liguria formed the IX Regio Augusta. In the time of Diocletian, Liguria included all of present-day Piedmont and much of Lombardy; then it gradually shrank until it came to include, as now, almost the entire Tyrrhenian slope of the Alps and Apennines, from the Roia basin to the Magra basin.

Now divided into the three provinces of Imperia, Genoa, and La Spezia, it includes the dioceses of Ventimiglia (established in the 6th century), Albenga (already existing in the 5th century), Noli (established in 1239, then abolished), Vado (from 680, and then Savona from 999), Genoa (which tradition traces back to St. Barnabas and was a metropolitan see from the 12th century), Chiavari, and Brugnato (on the Spezia-Bracco road), established in 1133, later modified in the 19th century into the diocese of Luni-Sarzana and now into the diocese of La Spezia. Until 1768, the Corsican dioceses also depended on the metropolitan of Genoa, and until 1860, the bishop of Nice did as well.

The period when Christianity entered Liguria, considered in its present extent, is uncertain. The legends repeated about the arrival of St. Barnabas, Sts. Nazarius and Celsus, and then St. Calimerus, bishop of Milan, of Sts. Marcellinus, Vincent, and Donninus, are legendary; it seems that no persecution raged there, since even the Ligurian St. Secundus and St. Calogerus suffered martyrdom outside the region. There is also mention of St. Lawrence, who, coming from Spain to Rome, is said to have stopped in Genoa around 260, at the place where the Novese Cathedral was later erected and consecrated in the 12th century. It is certain, however, that Christianity was already flourishing there between the 3rd and 4th centuries.

The history of Liguria, understood within its modern boundaries, is the local history of individual cities and valleys. The Ligurians, the ancient inhabitants of the land, were themselves divided into tribes, largely independent of one another, such as the Ingauni (centered in Albenga), the Intemelii (centered in Ventimiglia), the Sabates (perhaps centered in Savona), the Tigulli (centered in Sestri Levante), the Montani Ligurians, and others, not to mention the Ligurian tribes of the Po Valley. Romanization occurred through the foundation of the Roman colony of Genua (before 218 B.C.) and then through wars, some quite arduous, in the 2nd century B.C. By around 150 B.C., the entire coast could be said to be in Roman hands, connected by sea with the main ports of the Tyrrhenian, and by land with the rest of the Roman world via the Via Postumia (148 B.C.), passing through Libarna, Derthona, Iria (= Voghera), and Piacenza, and later, shortly before 100 B.C., via the Via Aemilia Scauri, which descended from Aquae Statiellae (= Acqui) to Vada Sabatia (= Vado). The coastal road, already traced in sections by coastal peoples, reached its full development in the 1st century B.C. and then in the age of Augustus, first between Luni and Genoa, and was called the Via Aurelia by extension, and then between Genua and Nicaea (= Nice), known as the Via Julia Augusta.

Little is known about Ligurian maritime history in the early Middle Ages; it was sacked by the Heruli and Goths and finally by the Lombards, who, as is likely, made it a duchy. Also obscure are the events of the early Ligurian dioceses, where certainly the heretical movements of the early centuries, and especially Arianism, did not take hold; indeed, at that time Genoa became a refuge for Catholics.

In the 10th century, Liguria was divided into three marches: Arduinica (west), Aleramica (center), and Obertenga (east), later fragmented in the 11th and 12th centuries by feudalism. However, the rights of the marquises and counts later encountered the greatest obstacle in the opposition of the bishops until new communal organizations emerged, especially that of Genoa, which sought to achieve primacy over the other inhabited centers of the coast. In this expansion, the commune of Genoa was in agreement with its bishop, who did not hesitate to withdraw churches belonging to other dioceses and place them under his own jurisdiction once the commune had established itself over its neighbors. This occurred, for example, in the 12th century with the churches of Portovenere, occupied by the Genoese and transferred from the bishop of Luni to the bishop of Genoa. Notable struggles were fought, especially on the western coast, around Ventimiglia and Sanremo, in which the authority of the bishops was entangled in feudal and communal conflicts. Nor were relations with the papacy always peaceful, as shown by the interdicts against Genoa in the 13th and 15th centuries and against Savona in the 14th century. In 1453, Paolo da Campo Fregoso was simultaneously cardinal archbishop and doge of the Genoese Republic. Imperial protection then intervened in the struggles between Genoa and the other small maritime republics of the west (first and foremost Savona) until, in 1528, with Savona subdued, the Genoese state could be said to extend over both coasts. In the 18th century, the House of Savoy began to assert its dominance. After the Napoleonic Wars and the Restoration, in 1815 Liguria became part of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

The cohort of Ligurian saints is not very large: known in the 4th or 5th century are St Ampelio, the anchorite, and then St Venerius, and a series of saints in the 15th and 16th centuries, including St Leonard of Porto Maurizio; also notable are St Syrus, Bishop of Genoa, in the 6th century, and the Blessed James of Varagine (= Varazze), bishop and writer of the 13th century.

There are about sixty shrines, many of which are gathered on the mountains overlooking the sea or in the inland valleys: one of the oldest is without doubt the shrine of the Madonna di Saviore, near Monterosso al Mare, which is traced back to the 8th century; others date to the 12th century, such as that of Nostra Signora del Monte near Genoa and the shrine of the Coronata at Cornigliano Ligure; others to the 14th century, such as S. Bartolomeo degli Armeni in Genoa and the shrine of Acqua Santa near Voltri; or to the 15th century, such as the Sanctuary of Nostra Signora d’Ortegia in Genoa; the 16th century includes the shrine of S. Maria di Montallegro near Rapallo with a hospice for pilgrims attached; and later still the shrine of Nostra Signora della Vittoria, near the Colle dei Giovi; those of the Madonna di Lampedusa near Castellaro di Taggia, and of the Madonna del Soccorso at Pietra Ligure; the Madonna della Guardia above Arma di Taggia; the shrine of S. Lucia near Borghetto S. Spirito, and the shrine of the Madonna della Guardia between Varazze and Cogoleto.

Aristide Calderini

III. REGION

LIGURIAN CONCILIAR REGION.

While all the historic regions of Italy were included in the circular of 24 Aug. 1889 for episcopal conferences and in the motu proprio Qua Cura of 8 Dec. 1938 for tribunals, the consistorial decree of 15 Feb. 1919 expressly excludes, among others, Liguria because in this region the ecclesiastical province of Genoa practically groups together all the dioceses that have their seat in the region.

Therefore the Ligurian region, ecclesiastically, unites

around the metropolitan see of Genoa the suffragan dioceses of Albenga, Bobbio, Chiavari, Luni or La Spezia with Sarzana and Brugnato, Savona and Noli, Tortona. In Genoa there is also established the Ligurian regional tribunal with matrimonial jurisdiction in first-instance judgments, which is also competent for appeals from the Lombard regional tribunal. In turn the Ligurian regional tribunal has as its court of appeal the Piedmontese regional tribunal (Turin). The regional plenary councils in this specific case are simply provincial for the reasons stated above, and therefore follow the norms of can. 283 sq.

Agostino Pugliese

IV. ART

The oldest testimonies to Ligurian civilisation are prehistoric. The deposits at Arene Candide and the ‘Balzi Rossi’ constitute a substantial documentation of the Palaeolithic and Neolithic ages, and are the most important such deposits existing in Italy. Instead, the Protohistoric period includes the archaic necropolis found in the excavations of Via XX Settembre in Genoa, and other remains at Savignone, Ameglia and the Celtic deposits of the Magra Valley. Roman civilisation has left, besides the imposing ruins of Luni (on the border with Tuscany), remains at Ventimiglia, Albenga, Genoa and other localities.

1. Architecture

Already in the Middle Ages the Ligurians display particular skill in the art of building. Advanced examples of monumental architecture still exist in the lands once under their dominion and in Genoa, visible here in the remains of the walls erected to defend against the incursions of Barbarossa in 1155 and in the restored Porta Soprana. The 12th century also boasts the beautiful tower of the Embriaci, now more prominently visible after the demolition of surrounding houses caused by the bombings of the last war. Tower-houses were built during the 12th and 13th centuries in Genoa, Savona and Albenga. With the survivals of Gothic, the forms become more refined: some examples of this period remain in civil architecture, such as in Genoa the Palazzo Spinola and that of the Doria in Piazza S. Matteo.

Romanesque architecture also had in Liguria a predominantly religious development. In Genoa itself one may recall S. Donato (with its characteristic and rare tiburium), S. Giovanni di Prè, SS. Cosma e Damiano, S. Maria di Castello, and others; while the cathedral of S. Lorenzo, whose construction was long and troubled, only partly dates from the Romanesque age. Outside Genoa one recalls the baptistery of Albenga, perhaps of the 5th century, the oldest surviving Christian building in Liguria, the so-called Christian basilica of Luni (of which only ruins remain), and, among the countless other examples of Romanesque architecture, S. Paragorio of Noli, from the end of the 11th century, with a plan of very rare forms.

With the Renaissance (which arrived very late), art naturally underwent new developments. The foremost exponents were above all Montorsoli and Pierin del Vaga, called to build and decorate the Palazzo di Andrea Doria (Palazzo Principe); it is from this moment that Genoese architecture begins to attain new splendour, thanks first to Alessi and then to Bartolomeo Bianco, Rocco Luragio, etc. In the 16th century the Via Nuova was built

Genoa, with its unique and picturesque setting, is justly considered one of the most beautiful and harmonious cities in the world. The narrow and steep configuration of the Genoese terrain led architects to give their buildings a theatrical character, so that they appear to rise from hanging gardens, perspective staircases, etc. Among the notable examples are the Villa delle Peschiere, the Cambiaso villas in Albaro and Scassi in Sampierdarena, all designed by Alessi; the Imperial Palace by G. B. Castello; the Doria Tursi Palace by Rocco Luragio, and the University Palace by Bartolomeo Bianco. Alessi is also credited with the most beautiful Genoese Renaissance church, Santa Maria di Carignano, grand and solemn in its central-plan design, which seems to echo the plans left by Bramante for St. Peter’s. The central plan is also found in the chapel of Nostra Signora di Loreto, near Finale, and in the small church of Santa Maria della Rotonda in the plain of Albenga, which, however, seems to recall much earlier constructions. The architectural taste initiated by Alessi persisted throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, despite changing styles, not only in Genoa but in much of Liguria (e.g., the Royal Palace by G. A. Falcone and P. F. Cantone). In the religious architecture of the Baroque period, the finest example in Genoa remains the Basilica of the Santissima Annunziata (severely damaged in the war and currently under restoration). From the Neoclassical period, the façade of this church and the Teatro Carlo Felice are noteworthy, though the latter’s interior was destroyed during World War II. The city experienced significant architectural development in the second half of the 19th century (Via XX Settembre) and now boasts some of the tallest “skyscrapers” in Europe.

2. Sculpture

Few Romanesque sculptures survive, among which is a wooden crucifix (akin to the *Volto Santo* of Lucca) in the sanctuary-church of Santa Croce, perched on the steep slopes above the Bocche del Magra. At Santa Margherita, the exterior of the Cappuccini church preserves a Madonna and Child, not unmindful of contemporary Provençal sculpture. Romanesque sculptural remains also exist in Genoa. In the Gothic period, Giovanni Pisano in Genoa (tomb of Margaret of Brabant) and Giovanni di Balduccio in Sarzana left notable works. In the 15th century, Lombard sculptors flocked to the region, with the Gagini family at the forefront, bringing Renaissance taste in decorative forms characterized by strong plastic presence, typical of northern styles. Their work focused especially on portal decoration, some of which are deservedly famous (such as the one in Piazza San Matteo in Genoa by Giovanni Gagini; another in Via Davide Chiossone by Pace Gagini, and so on). The Gagini’s activity extended into the 16th century. Contemporaneously, Gaspare della Scala and Nicolò da Corte were active. Between 1539 and 1547, artists such as G. A. Montorsoli (Palazzo Principe), Giacomo and Bartolomeo della Porta, and others worked in Genoa.

In the 17th century, Baroque styles were introduced to Genoa by the Frenchman Pierre Puget; however, Bernardo and Francesco Schiaffino also emerged, deeply influenced by Bernini’s art (Bernardo’s masterpiece: *The Rape of Proserpina*, in the Royal Palace of Genoa). Domenico and Filippo Parodi then gave impetus to a prolific school that continued into the 18th century, producing artists like the Maragliano family, who distinguished themselves particularly in wooden sculpture. Most surviving examples of 19th-century sculpture are found among the tombs of the Staglieno Cemetery.

3. Painting

A 6th-century mosaic is preserved in the baptistery of Albenga. In the cathedral of Sarzana, the precious *Crucifix* by Guglielmo (1138) is the oldest Romanesque painting in Liguria. Few 13th-century works survive (the frescoes at Sampierdarena, in Santa Maria della Cella, and those detached works by Manfredino da Pistoia in Genoa reveal Tuscan influence). In the 14th century, Sienese painting exerted its influence, leaving works in Liguria. The most notable local painter of the time was Nicolò da Voltri, not unaware of the art of the Modenese Barnaba, active in the region until the early 15th century. Throughout the latter century, Tuscan, Lombard, Piedmontese, and even transalpine influences succeeded one another. Among the most notable local painters were Giovanni Barbagelata (painter of the parish church of Varazze), Agostino Casanova, and finally, the greatest of them all, Ludovico Brea, leader of the Ligurian-Niçard school. Also active in the region were the Piedmontese Luca Baudo, Giovanni Masone, and, among others, Vincenzo Foppa, whose influence on local masters—still tied to Gothic styles—and even on Brea himself was highly fruitful. Giovanni Canavesio, who worked in western Liguria but was of Piedmontese origin, is also remembered. Finally, the enigmatic painter Carlo del Mantegna (Carlo Braccesco) was active; a famous polyptych by him remains in the sanctuary of Monte Grazie (Imperia).

While Teramo Piaggio and Antonio Semino, in the fullness of the 16th century, still indulged in 15th-century forms, Pier Francesco Sacchi (Pierin del Vaga) brought new life to Genoa, frescoing the Palazzo Principe. The true history of Genoese painting begins in the 16th century, largely through the work of Luca Cambiaso, a master of fresco, the Semino family, and Tavarone. But the greatest glory came in the 17th century, when the Genoese school established itself as one of the most important in Italy. Under the influence of multiple currents (Tuscan, Lombard, Venetian, and Flemish), the exuberant art of Bernardo Strozzi emerged, to whom even Venetian painting owes a debt. Other luminaries such as Domenico Fiasella, Valerio Castello, Orazio and Giovanni Andrea De Ferrari, and Bartolomeo Guidobono brought fame to this school, while Rubens and Van Dyck, during their stays in Genoa, left behind significant testimonies of their art. At the end of the 17th century, Giovanni Battista Gaulli, BACCIA (v.), and Domenico Piola renewed the glory of Genoese painting with their exuberant and facile fresco execution; while Piola’s pupil, Gregorio De Ferrari, though not sufficiently recognized, paved the way for 18th-century painting with his luminous frescoes, marked by surprising inventive freedom and a taste that seems to anticipate the “French” style. But the greatest Genoese artist of the 17th century is undoubtedly Alessandro Magnasco, the “expressionist” creator of the *tocco* technique, thus anticipating Guardi. Of the 19th century, Niccolò Barabino, a native of Sampierdarena, is remembered.

Liguria also nurtured various original and interesting artistic industries at different times. As early as the 16th century, the art of intarsia flourished, and in 1504, Anselmo de Fornari of Castelnuovo Scrivia was commissioned to decorate the choir stalls of Genoa Cathedral with intarsia work. Since the Middle Ages, the area around Chiavari has been renowned for its successful production of velvet and damask weaving. Genoese women’s bobbin lace from the Baroque era also gained great fame, while as early as the 15th century, glassmaking thrived in Altare, and ceramics flourished in Albissola and Savona. — See plates LXXXVII-LXXXIX.