THE PORT OF GENOA

Historical background

In ancient times, Genoa's economic development was indissolubly linked to the berthing of ships. Thus it was the populaces from the sea, whose cultures and lifestyles were quite different from those of the Ligurian tribes that lived in the mountain hinterland, who established the settlement on the Castle hill around the 6th century BC.
At that time, the port was nothing but a small bay sheltered by the promontory of Molo Vecchio and probably remained that way up to the Middle Ages. Trade rekindled after the year One Thousand and ship traffic began to flourish.
This led to the construction of the first wooden wharves by the wealthiest merchant families (Spinola, Grimaldi, Calci, Cattaneo and others) who imported various types of goods, including spices, silk and other valuables from the Islamic world.

For the entire late Middle Ages, the Ripa, today's Sottoripa, facing the sea, was a business centre: some negotiated purchases, while others worked and unloaded cargo from ships berthed just a few meters from residences.
Thus, the port and the city were united by a thin strip of land with arcades, the market, where life pulsated quickly with a colour not very different from what we find today in the oriental Kasbahs.

View of Genoa in 1481

For the entire late Middle Ages, the Ripa, today's Sottoripa, facing the sea, was a business centre: some negotiated purchases, while others worked and unloaded cargo from ships berthed just a few meters from residences.

Thus, the port and the city were united by a thin strip of land with arcades, the market, where life pulsated quickly with a colour not very different from what we find today in the oriental Kasbahs.

The Centre for Documentation on Italian Communities and Cultures in the World, established by the Giovanni Agnelli Foundation, contains three separate databanks with information about Italian passengers on the ships that journeyed to the ports of New York, Buenos Aires and Vitoria.

For information about emigration to the United States of America, consult the website www.ellisisland.org of the American Family Immigration History Center.