Savona listen (help·info) (Sann-a /ˈsaŋːa/ in the local dialect of Ligurian) is a seaport and comune in the northern Italian region of Liguria, capital of the Province of Savona, in the Riviera di Ponente on the Mediterranean Sea.

Savona used to be one of the chief seats of the Italian iron industry, having iron-works and foundries, shipbuilding, railway workshops, engineering shops, brass foundry.

One of the most celebrated former inhabitants of Savona was the navigator Christopher Columbus, who farmed land in the area while chronicling his journeys. 'Columbus's house', a cottage situated in the Savona hills, lay between vegetable crops and fruit trees. It is just one of many residences in Liguria associated with Columbus.

Geography

The town is situated 40 km west of Genoa and circa 150 (east) of Nice, in France.

History

Inhabited in ancient times by Ligures tribes, it came under Roman influence in c. 180 BC, after the Punic wars in which the city had been allied to Carthage. At the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it passed under Lombard rule in 641 (being destroyed in the attack) after a short period as an Ostrogoth and then Byzantine possession. Later it recovered as county seat in the Carolingian Empire.

After a long struggle against the Saracens, Savona acquired independence in the 11th century becoming a free municipality. Subsequently, after a short alliance, it fought Genoa before being definitively conquered in 1528. It then shared the fortunes of the Republic of Genoa until Napoleonic times, and subsequent annexation to the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont (1815).

Main sights

• Near the Rocca di San Giorgio, on the "Promontorio del Priamar", stands the fortress named Priamar, built by the Genoese in 1542 after their conquest of Savona, on the area of the old cathedral and old city and later used as a prison and military priso. Italian patriot Giuseppe Mazzini was imprisoned here.
• Adjacent to the Cathedral and built 1480-1483, is the Cappella Sistina (Sistine Chapel), containing the Mausoleum erected by the Della Rovere Pope Sixtus IV to honor his parents, Leonardo Della Rovere and Luchina Monleone. The construction was commissioned by Giovanni D'Aria and his brother Michele. The chapel is architecturally similar to the chapel dedicated to the Cardinal Pietro Riario in the Basilica of the Santi Apostoli in Rome. After years of deterioration, in 1765-1767 a reconstruction was ordered by the Genovese Doge Francesco Maria Della Rovere. This updated the chapel in a Rococo style, with ceiling painted by Paolo Gerolamo Brusco. The Cathedral has a noteworthy 16th century carved wooden choir seats.
• Facing the cathedral is the unfinished Palazzo Della Rovere (Della Rovere Palace), built by Cardinal Giulio della Rovere (future Pope Julius II) and designed by Giuliano da Sangallo as a university.
• Palazzo Delle Piane (Delle Piane Palace), also known as Palazzo Delle Palle.
• The old towers, survived after the 1528 war with Genoa: the Campanassa (Commune tower, where the freedom declaration of Savona was signed in 1191), towers Corsi and Riario, "Ghibelline Tower", and Torre della Quarda (also known as "a Torretta"), in the Leon Pancaldo square.
• The Sanctuary of Nostra Signora della Misericordia (Our Lady of Mercy).
• In neighbourhood of Savona remains a house documented as property of Domenico Colombo, father of Christopher Columbus, where they lived for many years (Christopher Columbus lived in Savona for much of his youth).
• The church of Nostra Signora di Castello (Our Lady of the Castle) has a large altarpiece by Vincenzo Foppa and Ludovico Brea painted in 1490.

Notable people

• Girolamo Riario (1443–1488), lord of Imola and Forlì and one of the plotters behind the 1478 Pazzi Conspiracy.
• Pietro Riario (1447–1474), cardinal and Papal diplomat.
• Leon Pancaldo (1488 or 1490–1538) was an Italian explorer.
• Maria Christina of Naples and Sicily (1779–1849) Queen of Sardinia died here in 1849.
• Gabriello Chiabrera (1552–1638), poet.
• Paolo Boselli (1838–1932), Prime Minister of Italy during World War I.
• Gianni Baget Bozzo (born 1925), priest and politician.
• Renata Scotto (born 1934), opera singer.
• Christian Panucci (born 12 April 1973), Italian footballer.
• Pope Julius II
• Pope Sixtus IV

Events

• Holy Friday : every two years takes place a spectacular procession in streets of the city.
• Carnival : during Carnival the typycal costume is Cicciulin
• Confuoco (in local dialect U Confeugu), it takes place the last Sunday before Christmas. In the square of Sisto IV a large fire is lit.

Twin towns and sister cities

Savona is twinned with:

• Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany
• Saona, Dominican Republic

See also

• Savona Football Club

References

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

• Scovazzi, Italo; Filippo Noberasco (in Italian). Storia di Savona, vicende di una vita bimillenaria. Sabatelli. 

Notes

External links

• Media related to Savona at Wikimedia Commons
• Genoa Airport :: What to see :: Varazze
• Savona Web