La Spezia
Historical Notes
La Spezia is the second largest city in Liguria, its historic center overlooks the natural gulf of the same name and behind it a belt of green hills extends to make the view of the city so suggestive that it looks like a painting, especially by those who arrives by sea. The history of the city of La Spezia merges with that of the ancient Roman city of Lunea, on the banks of the Magra river, near Sarzana.
The La Spezia lands were already inhabited in ancient times, as evidenced by the many finds from the Iron and Bronze Age found on the Gulf heights and in the nearby valleys of the Magra and Vara.
With the collapse of the Roman Empire and the subsequent barbarian incursions La Spezia passed under the Byzantines.
Capital of the ephemeral Lordship of Niccolò Fieschi in the period between 1256 and 1273, inevitably linked to the events of Genoa until the fall of the Ligurian Republic, grows, changes, forms according to the forms of the Ligurian Capital.
In the Middle Ages La Spezia underwent a sort of economic and political division so as to lead to the formation of small lordships such as those of the lords of Vezzano, Passano and the Lavagna.
What to see
n the city there are many monuments and churches to visit, such as the church of Santa Maria Assunta, the Church of Saints John and Agostino, the Cathedral of Christ the King.
Also see the Castle of San Giorgio. Built on an old fortification on a small hill, known as the Poggio, the castle is in a dominant position with respect to the ancient inhabited center of La Spezia. Today the castle is used as the Ubaldo Formentini Civic Archaeological Museum where inside you can see on the ground floor the Neolithic remains of the Palmaria Island, Capo Corvo and Equi Terme, statues of the Copper and Iron Ages, remains of castles and ruins of the necropolis of Genicciola and Podenzana Ameglia.
