GENOA, jen'ts-it (It. Genova, Genoese, Zena, Fr. Genes). A fortified seaport of Italy, capital of the Province of Genoa, in the Compartimento of Liguria, formerly the capital of the Republic of Genoa, situated on the Gulf of Genoa and the Bisagno River, in latitude 44° 24' N. and longi tude 8° 54' E. (Map: Italy, D 3). It is the first port and most important commercial' centre of Italy. The mean temperature is 61° Fahr.. 9 degrees above that of Turin in the interior, 100 miles northwest. At Genoa the January tem perature averages 46° and seldom falls below 23°, but the changes are sudden, and the winter winds from the surrounding Ligurian Apennines are raw. The average temperature at Genoa in July is 76°.
Seen from the sea, the city justifies its title of `la superba' (the proud). In a nine-mile cir cuit it rises like an amphitheatre of churches, palaces, and houses. Picturesqueness is added to the panorama by terraced gardens, and by bridges. the most remarkable of which is the Ponte Carignano, that leads over seven-story buildings to the Church of Carignano and was built in 1718 by the Sauli family. It is 361 feet long, 17 feet wide, and 112 feet high. The old town is a network of steep, narrow streets lined with high buildings; but the modern en circling and radiating boulevards are broad and magnificent. Among these avenues are the im posing Via di Circonvallazione a Mare, on the site of the exterior fortifications, and the Via di Circonvallazione a Monte, stretching superbly along the heights back of the city. One of the most characteristic streets in the business sec tion is the Via Garibaldi, with stately palaces. The Piazza Deferrari, with its large equestrian statue of Garibaldi, is the converging point of the extensive system of electric street railways (31 miles in 1899). There are also three lines of cable cars.
The harbor, with an area of over 500 acres, consists of the Porto, or old harbor, with 19 feet of water, the Porto Nuovo, with 32 feet of water, and the Avamporto for war vessels, with 45 feet of water. The Porto is partially inclosed by the Molo Vecchio, said to have •been built in the twelfth century, and by the eighteenth-century Moto Nuovo. The
additions to the Porto were made (1877-95) at an expense of over $12,000,000, of which the Duke of Galliera contributed $4,000,000. The harbor now has five miles of quays, a steel floating dock 282 feet long, and two stone dry docks, 588 and 722 feet long respectively. To the west, on rocky Cape Faro, stands the lighthouse (La Lanterna), 384 feet high, with a magnificent view of the sea, harbor, city, Riviera, and mountains. Mod ern batteries and forts render the city a sea and land fortress of great strength. The rowing and bathing in and about the harbor form one of the attractions of the city.
Genoa is famous for the number of marble palaces in the style of the best period of the Renaissance. It is also unique for its many noble staircases. It accordingly presents a proud and grand appearance, and is the least agreeable and sympathique of the great Italian towns. The most splendid palaces it owes to the designs of Galeazzo Alessi (died 1572) and his successors Bianco (1604-56), Tagliafico (1729.1812), and Cantoni (1736-1818), who interpreted Alessi in the spirit of Michelangelo. The oldest of the 82 churches is the Cathedral of San Lorenzo, found ed in 985, rebuilt in the Romanesque style about 1100, restored in Gothic in 1307, and given a Renaissance dome in 1567. The choir was mod ernized in 1617, and in 1896 the interior was properly restored. In it are statues, paintings, vestments, relics, of which perhaps the most in teresting is the Sacro Catino, in which tradition says that Joseph of Arimathea caught drops of the blood of his crucified Saviour. There are ex cellent altarpieces by Baroccio and Battista. The most magnificent church in Genoa is the San tissima Annunziata, the most beautiful is the sixteenth-century Santa Maria di Carignano. The Annunziata dates from the sixteenth century, and is a basilica with a dome, the vaulting being borne by fluted and inlaid shafts of marble. Ser vices are held in English at the Episcopal Church, at the Presbyterian Church, and at the Sailor's Missions.