| The Port of Genoa is a seaport and city on Italy's northwest coast. The birthplace of Christopher Columbus (in 1451), the Port of Genoa is home to the world's oldest working lighthouse, the Torre della Lanterna. Port History It is likely that Etruscans and Phoenicians used the natural port, though no records remain to prove this. The first known inhabitants were the Italian Ligures tribes in the 6th Century BC. A cemetery demonstrates the Greeks occupied the area during that time. During this period, the Port of Genoa was little more than a small sheltered bay. Real ship traffic began after the year 1000 AD. As a Roman city, Genova was a military port and Ligurian market. During the Roman era, the ports of Marsielle and Vada Sabatia overshadowed the Port of Genoa. Carthaginians destroyed Genova in 209 BC. The rebuilt city received municipal rights from Rome after the wars, and military installations expanded. After Rome's Western Empire fell, Genova continued as an insulated farming and fishing center with limited trade. The Ostrogoths occupied the Port of Genoa, and it passed to the Byzantinian and Frank Empires in the 7th and 8th Centuries. When ship trade began in 1000 AD, merchant families built wooden wharves and imported spices, silks, and other exotic goods from the Middle East. During the 10th Century, The Port of Genoa mirrored Europe's growth and evolution. By the turn of the millennium, Genoese merchants were trading with Mediterranean and Palestinian ports, and ocean-going trade was Genoa's most important economic activity. The Port of Genoa was a leader in Europe's 12th/13th Century commercial revolution. With over 100 thousand residents, it became a naval power equal to Europe's great monarchs. Only Venice rivaled the Port of Genoa as a commercial center. Exotic goods flowed through the port, and banking and shipbuilding industries thrived. Prosperity brought with it a self-governing commercial colony that controlled Liguria, Corsica, and northern Sardinia. In the late 13th Century, Genoa entered into alliance with the Byzantine Empire, allowing expansion into the Black Sea. Pera, the Genoese suburb of Constantinople, even surpassed the Byzantine capital in economic power. Genoese ruled much of the Crimean coast, and Aegean islands became independent principalities. Despite the prosperity, the Port of Genoa was plagued with political strife that did not hamper growth because its ruling families managed the state as a business. Genova's political height came in 1284 when their navy defeated Pisa, and sea-borne trade reached its peak. Europe faced crises in the 14th and 15th Centuries, and the Port of Genoa was no exception. The local government was both broke and in turmoil. Dominated by France from 1394 to 1490 and by Milan from 1421 to 1435, the Port of Genoa no longer held power. Its principalities rebelled or were conquered by other powers. In 1528, nobleman Andrea Doria restored city government and effected a new constitution giving power to an elite group of merchants. Trying to cash in on Spain's links to the New World, Doria also made Genoa a satellite of Spain, bringing modest economic recovery. The Port of Genoa's good fortunes once again decreased with those of Spain and Italy. By the middle of the 1700s, it lost the last of its overseas territory. During Napoleon's wars, the Port of Genoa became a French protectorate in 1797. Then in 1805, it was annexed into the French Empire. During the 1800s, marine trade revived and expanded to the Far East and the Americas. When Italy was unified in 1861, the Port of Genoa was Italy's busiest commercial port, competing with Marseille for Mediterranean trade. While its share of international trade declined in the 1900s, trade flowing into and out of Italy increased. Port Commerce During World War II, Genoa was b |
