GEN'OA (Ital. Genova; Fr. Genes; anciently, Genoa), a city of Italy, situated on the Mediterranean gulf of the same name, at the foot of the Apennines, 79 m. s.e. of Turin, is the chief commercial seaport of the Sardinian provinces. Lat. of light-house, 44° 24' 18" n., long. 8° 54' 24' east. The pop. of the town of Genoa in 1872 was 130,269; that of the province of which it is the capital, 716,284.
From the sea the aspect of Genoa is a splendid panorama; the slopes of the hills down to the shore are covered with palaces, churches, hotels, and private dwellings, relieved by terraced gardens and groves of orange and pomegranate trees; while the bleak summits of the loftier ranges are capped with forts, batteries, and outworks, which constitute a line of fortification of great strength and extensive circuit.
The fine harbor, of which the diameter is rather less than a mile, is semicircular, and formed by two piers, at the extremity of one of which stands a light-house tower, 300 ft. high. Vessels of the largest class can enter inside the harbor, and, notwithstanding the heavy swells occasioned by s.w. winds, the harbor is remarkably safe. As yet, however, there is no landing-pier for passengers, all of whom, at considerable incon venience, are carried ashore a distance of nearly half a mile in row-boats. Subject to this drawback, the harbor is visited daily by French and Italian steamers in communi cation with other ports iu the Mediterranean. There is railway communication between Genoa and Turin, Aroua, Alessandria, Nice, etc. In 1873, a new line of railway along the coast was completed to Spezzia, and is in progress thence inland to Parma and Modena.
Several important establishments are grouped round the port—viz., the arsenal, the convict prison, the custom-house, and the Porto llranco or free-port warehouses, where merchandise may be stored previous to its re-exportation free of duty. Genoa is the great commercial depot of a wide extent of country, of which the chief raw exports are olive oil, rice, fruits, cheese, steel, etc.; the manufactured goods exported are velvets, silks, damask, gloves, flowers, paper, soap, jewelry in silver and coral, in all of which industrial branches the excellence of the Genoese workmen is incontestable. The imports are principally cottons, raw cotton, woolens, cochineal. indigo, grain, hides, etc. The annual exports of Genoa are valued at £4,000,000, while the imports are returned at L'10, 000,000.
While strikingly grand as viewed from the sea, and so far worthy of being entitled Superba, a closer examination of Genoa tends materially to lower its character for beauty and magnificence. Hemmed within walls, and built awkwardly on irregular rising grounds, it has never been opened up by any comprehensive plan of ment, and remains very math a labyrinth of narrow and, iutricatc.lanesi accessible duly
to foot-passengers, or to the pack mules, by the use of which a large portion of the internal goods traffic is conducted. These thoroughfares, into which the light of day imperfectly penetrates, are lined with tall buildings, some of them. of marble and of handsome architecture, but they can with difficulty be seen from the limitedness of the space in front; and however grand, they consequently fail in effect. Many of them— once the residence of merchant-princes—are now transformed into hotels or business establishments; in some cases, the superb lobbies, euvironed by marble columns, being occupied by petty traders, and shabby in the extreme. Only a few streets are wide enough for carriages, and in these the aspect of affairs is more like that of modern cities. Fallen from their high estate generally, several palazzos still belong to persons of distinction who have the means of maintaining them in their original splendor, or they are appropriated as public buildings. The two most famous are the Palazzo Dueale, formerly inhabited by the doges, now appropriated to the meetings of the senate; and the Palazzo Doria, presented, in 1522, to the great Genoese citizen Andria Doria, whose residence it was during his presidency of the republic. The palaces Brignole Sale, Serra, Reale, Pallavicini, Spinola Balbi, Negroid, and many others, possess great interest both on account of their historical fame and architectural beauty. Many of them contain galleries of paintings, which are shown for a fee. Some of the churches are particularly fine: the most noticeable of all being the cathedral of St. Lorenzo, a grand old pile in the Italian Gothic style. Genoa contains many excellent public institutions, which almost all date from the period of the republic. The great hospital, and the asylum for the poor (Alberto de' Poveri), are especially worthy of mention. The latter makes pro vision for 1600 persons, orphans and old people. The former are trained up to useful employments, and such girls hs marry out of the hospital receive a small dowry. The deaf and dumb institution, and the hospital for the insane, are the first in Italy in point of extent and regulation. There arc numerous excellent foundations called conservatorie, devoted to various philanthropic purposes, the chief of which is called the Fieschine, and is an asylum for female orphans. The public library contains 50,000 volumes, and is unrestrictedly open to the public. The academy of fine arts was founded by the Doria family. The theaters of Genoa are very fine; that of Carlo Felice ranks among the best in Italy.