(more accurately GENOVA), DUCHY OF, one of the administrative divisions of the kingdom of Sardinia, occupies that portion of the Ligurian Apennines which lies at the head of the Gulf of Genoa. Its extreme Lat. is 44° Bona-2, and 44° 49', N., and its Long. 8° 20', and 10° 6', E. It is bounded on the N. by the administrative division of Alessandria, on the E. by the Duchy of Massa, on the S. by the Mediterranean, and on the W. by the administrative division of Savona. The area is 1258 square miles English, occupied by a population (1855) of 580,000. The greatest length of Genoa is about 130 miles, and greatest breadth 46. The Apennines traverse this duchy from N.E. to S.W., in directions nearly parallel to the shore, from which their central ridge is seldom more than 16 miles distant. The coast line does not exceed 100 miles; but it is varied by numerous indentations, which form several good harbours and two spacious bays—Rapallo, and the beautiful Bay of Spezzia (the Portus Lune of the Romans). The surface presents a succession of mountain slopes and terraces, intersected and diversified by valleys and ravines. The greater part of it is covered by the Apennines, which curve round the Gulf; and form two slopes, from the northern of which descend the Trebbia, the Staffora, the Scrivia, the Orba, and the Bormida, all affluents of the Po; while from the southern slope descend into the Gulf of Genoa the Magra, the Vara, the Sturla, the Besagno, and the Polcevera, all streams of minor importance, besides numerous mountain torrents, which so much heighten the beauty of the landscape. The prevailing rocks belong to the carboniferous and magnesian limestone systems. Statuary marble and other kinds, as well as alabaster, limestone, slate, coal, and asbestos are easily obtained. The soil is not naturally very productive, being, from its very rugged nature, for the most part rocky and unfit for agricultural purposes; but the industry and skill of the inhabitants have turned to advantage every spot capable of cultivation. The climate is in general temperate and salubrious, and the air is remarkably pure. In winter, however, the winds in the elevated ravines are bitterly cold, giving a tendency among the inhabitants to pulmonary complaints; and the influence of the sirocco is sometimes severely felt. The chief vegetable productions are citrons, lemons, oranges; light wines; chestnuts, olives, silk, cotton, hemp, figs, pomegranates, almonds, and other excellent fruits. On the mountain slopes there are fine pastures and extensive forests. The manufactures have made great progress in large towns, especially in Genoa, where, in particular tissues, it still excels the rest of the world. (See GENOA, City of.) But the great passion of the Genoese is for the sea, whence they have in all ages been well adapted for commercial pursuits. Though they have in recent times been far surpassed by other nations, they still carry on a very important trade, both foreign and coasting. The best seamen in the Mediterranean are furnished by the Riviera, or maritime districts, and the Sardinian navy is manned chiefly from them. Their vessels trade to the Levant, the Black Sea, the Baltic, to America, and the coasts of the Pacific. The principal articles of export are silk, paper, rice, oil, and hemp.
From the nature of the surface of this duchy there is only one main line of road traversing the length of the country. This excellent road runs along the western shore from the city of Genoa to Savona, and along the eastern shore from Genoa to Sarzana, disclosing views of the most picturesque and enchanting beauty. The transverse roads which run into this main line are the terminations of those from Lombardy and Piedmont. The only railways in the duchy are the southern portion of the Turin and Genoa Railway, opened throughout its whole extent in December 1853, and one between Voltri and Genoa, opened in 1855.
The Duchy of Genoa is divided into four provinces—Genova, Chiavari, Levante, and Novi.
The Genoese are a robust and handsome people; they are active, shrewd, frugal, industrious, and parsimonious. From the time of Virgil to that of Dante, the Ligurians or Genoese have been the subject of great veneration. The dialect of Italian spoken by them is one of the most difficult to strangers, and there are only a few books of poetry printed in it.
City of (in Italian Genova, and anciently Génua, misnamed in the middle ages Janua), belongs to the kingdom of Sardinia, and is situated in a recess of the Gulf of Genoa, on the coast of the Mediterranean, at the foot of the Ligurian Apennines, in Lat. 44. 24. 20. N., and Long. 8. 52. 55. E. It is 75 miles S.E. of Turin, 73 S. of Milan, and 90 N.W. of Leghorn. Exclusive of the garrison and seamen, the population (in 1855) was nearly 105,000 within the city walls. The garrison on an average amounts to 8000, and the merchant seamen to about 10,000. Genoa is surrounded on the land side by a double wall, of which the inner (550 yards from the sea) incloses the town, and is 6 miles in length. The outer, called Nuove Thura, erected between 1630 and 1632 A.D., encompasses several hills with the fortresses of the Sperone and the Begato, which formerly commanded the town. When viewed from Aspect, the sea, Genoa and its environs rise in a compact mass like a marble amphitheatre from the harbour, which is flanked by its two gigantic moles and lighthouses. The aspect is thus truly magnificent. A succession of fine buildings, more than two miles in length, stretch along the shore; the white edifices in successive terraces; numerous churches and convents; palaces and gardens on the steep sides of the hills that rear their dark, bold, bleak, and barren summits above, crowned with formidable ramparts, forts, and batteries, give the city an air of great magnificence worthy of the ancient epithet "La Superba." On entering the town, however, some disappointment is naturally felt by the visitor; the houses are indeed well built, but the streets are steep, narrow, crooked, and irregular, yet clean and well paved. The buildings are square and lofty, affording a pleasant shade in the scorching months of summer, and the roofs are covered with a light-coloured slate, which has a pleasing effect on viewing the city from a distance. Such streets as the Strada Balbi and Strada Nuova, which are entirely lined with marble palaces belonging to the Genoese nobles; and the Strada Novissima, Carlo Alberto, and Carlo Felice, which are also magnificent, must be excepted from the character of narrowness, inconvenience, and irregularity. The few squares (or piazze) open towards the principal churches and the private theatre of Carlo Felice. The palaces of the Genoese patricians display not only the attractions of architecture, but of painting and sculpture: marble columns, rich friezes, balustrades, statues, arcades, galleries, fountains, all formed of the same costly materials, are here interspersed with terraced gardens, in which the myrtle, orange, and oleander bloom in rich luxuriance. The principal of these sumptuous mansions are those of Balbi, Brignole, Durazzo, Doria, Serra, Negro, Reale, Cattaldi, Rosso, Cambraso, Pallavicini, Carrega, and Lercari. The marble of which these princely edifices are constructed abounds in the vicinity of Genoa, yet the modern palaces are nearly all faced with stucco. Genoa has many handsome churches; among the finest Public are the Cathedral L'Annunziata, built by Sauli a citizen, buildings, and the church of Carignano; about one-half of the churches, however, and among them some of the finest, were destroyed by the French during their occupation of the city at the end of the last century and beginning of the present. Besides these there are many public edifices, of which the most interesting and important are the Palazzo della Signoria, Palace of the ancient residence of the doge, and the place of meeting the doges for the public bodies. The great and little council rooms still occupy their place in this palace, though the interior was destroyed by fire; whence the fine ceilings and wainscoting have all disappeared. There are three theatres; and the hospitals vie with the palaces in magnificence. The private dwellings are neat and durable, generally Private high, with flat roofs; and the Exchange, where the merchant princes formerly carried on their mighty trade, is now occupied by fruitellers. The Loggia de' Banchi, where the exchange is, the Ponti or quays, the Porto Franco, the
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1 Dante, Inferno, xxxiii., 151-154, Carlyle's edition. Genoa is still an important commercial city, though vastly inferior to what it was in the 14th and 15th centuries. The "superb merchant princes" of the olden time of the republic are now no more. This inferiority has been mainly brought about by the expensive wars in which the republic engaged. Still the exports amount to about two millions and a half sterling, while the imports are about four millions. Of exports, the principal articles are cheese, rice, hemp, fruits, olive oil, and hides; and of her own manufacture, paper, soap, works in alabaster and marble, jewellery, and bijoux in coral, silks and fancy goods, damasks and velvets, for the last of which Genoa has long been highly celebrated. The annual value of the silk and satin manufactures averages L250,000; and the raw material is partly raised at home and partly imported from Sicily, Calabria, and the Levant. Gold and silver filigree manufactures of Genoa have long held a first place in the estimation of connoisseurs in such work. Other less important articles of manufacture are artificial flowers, white-lead, candied fruits, chocolate, macaroni, and hats. The chief articles of import are corn from Sicily, and sometimes from Barbary; raw silk from Sicily and Calabria; naval stores and iron from the Baltic; sail-cloth and linens from Germany; cottons, tin, lead, sugar, hardware, and coals from Great Britain; wood from Spain; cotton and wax from the Levant; and various articles of colonial produce from British North America and the United States. Many of these imports are again exported to Switzerland, France, and Spain. Two laws, passed in 1751 and 1815 respectively, which enabled merchants to deposit goods in the Porto-Franco without paying duty unless taken out for home consumption, have very much facilitated the transit trade, which is now very considerable. Genoese vessels trade to the Euxine, the Levant, the Baltic, and North and South America; while steamers regularly ply between Marseilles, Barcelona, Leghorn, Civita Vecchia, &c. All this vast trade is much facilitated by the fine harbour of Genoa, and the liberal encouragement to trade given by the Sardinian government. The harbour is bounded at its two extremities by the Molo Vecchio and the Molo Nuovo, 595 yards apart, and above the latter stands the noble fanale or lighthouse, 385 feet above sea level. The harbour, exposed to the S.W. wind and its heavy swells, is in the form of a semicircle, whose diameter is about 2000 yards, with the Old Mole on the E. side and the New Mole on the W. The water at the New Mole is deepest, and the bottom is clay, and holds well. The Darsena, or state dock and arsenal, on the N. side of the large harbour, was established in 1276 A.D., and is used for refitting and preserving the national galleys. With it is connected the Bagne or prison for convicts. Two towers are erected on the moles, one as a lighthouse, the other as a defence of the harbour. A strong thick wall runs along the quays between the harbour and the houses, which completely conceals the former from view.
Genoa is a garrison town, the residence of a governor-general, and of a high court of judiciary or senate for the whole duchy. In the practice of these courts the French codes, civil and commercial, have been retained. The government of the city is vested in the great town-council of 40 members, 20 of whom are merchants and 20 nobles; a lower council, two syndics, with various subordinate officers. For public instruction there are the university, attended by about 500 students, a royal college, a naval school, and six commercial schools, one for each district of the city, a deaf and dumb school, an academy of fine arts, public libraries, one of which contains 50,000 volumes, besides several learned societies of very old standing; yet education is not generally diffused, nor has Genoa produced many men who rank high in the republic of letters. Among her poets, Chiabrera the eminent lyrist stands alone eminent. The most celebrated character citizens, of which she can boast is Andrea Doria; and Columbus who was born in the duchy, but not in the city. Oderico was a famous philologer, and Lomellini first ventured to use lightning rods. And though Genoa bears ample proofs of her liberal tastes, neither has she been distinguished as the birthplace of eminent artists. Besides all the institutions already mentioned, Genoa has 15 female asylums or conservatories, as well as various convents and benevolent institutions. The established religion is Roman Catholic; but Religion, other creeds are tolerated, even the Jewish.
Few states in Europe have experienced so many political revolutions as Genoa. Old traditions would assign to it an antiquity greater than that of Rome. At the beginning of the second Punic war (218 B.C.) it is mentioned by Livy as a town in friendly relations with Rome. Shortly after this, in order to effect a diversion in favour of Hannibal, Mago, the Carthaginian general, sailed with an army on board his fleet, took Genoa by surprise and partly destroyed it; but, by order of the Roman senate, it was restored a few years after. From that time Genoa continued in alliance with Rome, but was not one of her colonies. She is also mentioned by Strabo as an emporium for the sale of honey, cattle, and hides, brought from the interior by the Ligurians, who received wine and oil from the other parts of the peninsula in exchange. Involved in all the vicissitudes of the Roman empire, Genoa suffered first from the invasions of the Goths and Lombards, and afterwards from the ravages of the Saracens. Such, however, were the resources of its commerce and the advantages of its situation that it always emerged from oppression; and during the tenth century succeeded in establishing a free constitution, having rid itself of the dominion of the Frank counts imposed upon it by Charlemagne. After the fall of the Carlovingian dynasty, and during the contests about the crown of Italy, the Genoese seized the opportunity of regaining their independence, and established an aristocratic republic under elective magistrates styled consuls. From the end of the 11th century the names of the consuls were recorded. By sea the Genoese merchants had already rendered themselves formidable, having strengthened their navy in self-defence against the Saracens, from whom they had suffered severely. In alliance with the Pisans they succeeded in expelling these infidels from Capraja, Corsica, and Sardinia, between 1016 and 1021 A.D. From this time dates the domination of Genoa over Corsica and Capraja. During the great crusade under Godfrey de Bouillon, the Genoese obtained settlements along the coast of the Holy Land, especially at Acre; and in 1146 A.D. they took Minorca Island from the Moors, and the next year succeeded in storming Almeria in Granada, whence they carried off immense booty. All this time the Genoese fleet consisted of 63 galleys with 163 transports, on board of which they carried 12,000 land forces. In 1148 A.D., in company with the Catalonians, they took Tortosa, which was defended by a Moorish garrison. These conquests roused the jealousy of the rival cities Pisa and Venice, also great naval and commercial powers. Two centuries of almost uninterrupted war between Genoa and Pisa power succeeded, terminating in the complete defeat of the latter in a naval engagement near the rocks of Meloria in sight of their own coast. In this decisive and desperate battle, 3000 Pisans were killed and 13,000 taken prisoners to Genoa, where they mostly died in chains. The Pisans never recovered from this blow; and nine years afterwards (1290 A.D.) the Genoese, under Conrad Doria, destroyed Porto Pisano, and filled up the mouth of the harbour.
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1 Livii, lib. xxi. 32; xxviii. 46; xxx. 1. Soon after the conquest of Constantinople by the Franks in 1244 A.D., the rivalry between Venice and Genoa began to manifest itself. Michael Palaeologus, having been considerably assisted by the Genoese in recovering his capital, granted them the important suburbs of Pera and Galata, and the port of Smyrna, with full jurisdiction over them all; and thus virtually granted them the command of the commerce of the Levant. This brought them into collision with the best interests of the Venetians, who disputed with them the supremacy of these seas. After several naval engagements, however, the two hostile republics concluded a truce in 1271 A.D. But after the decisive conquest of the Pisans the Genoese felt themselves more free to renew the contest with their other great rivals the Venetians; and putting to sea a large fleet and sailing up the Adriatic, they defeated the Venetians near the island of Curzola, destroying 84 galleys, and making 7000 prisoners, including the Venetian Admiral Dandolo. In 1299 a peace was concluded between these fierce rivals, by which the Venetians were entirely excluded from the trade of the Euxine, where the Genoese had studded the coast with a chain of forts, factories, and colonies, by means of which they pushed their trade far into the interior of Asia. Their commerce had now reached its greatest height. The markets of Constantinople were now wholly supplied by the enterprising and warlike merchants of Genoa; and under their auspices Kaffa, now and anciently Theodosia, became one of the finest commercial towns in Europe. At this time the Genoese not only commanded the Euxine, but had a communication with the Caspian, by which they received the costly merchandise of India. When Mohammed II. conquered Constantinople (1453 A.D.) he seized the Genoese colonies in the Euxine, which fell an easy prey to him while internal dissensions agitated the parent city at home. But long before this, in 1346, the Genoese had again come into collision with the Venetians, whom they defeated in sight of Constantinople, but were themselves afterwards totally routed on the coast of Sardinia. After this disheartening defeat the Genoese submitted to Visconti Duke of Milan, and from 1391 A.D. Venice and Genoa remained at peace. The rule of the podestà had succeeded that of the consuls about 1190 A.D. With some interruptions this lasted till 1270 A.D., when Spinola and Dona, two eminent citizens, usurped the supreme power, calling themselves “Captains of Liberty,” and they retained it till 1291 A.D. The lower classes were reconciled to their rule by their appointing a magistrate called Abbate del Popolo, who vindicated the rights of the people against the nobles. Next were appointed “foreign captains” chosen from among the natives of places at least 100 miles distant from Genoa. Next was instituted a council, consisting first of 12, then of 24 members, of equal numbers of nobles and plebeians. Endless feuds arose within the city between these classes, who rendered the city with its territory almost a desert, so that in 1339 A.D. the citizens, disgusted and weary of discord, appointed a magistrate called doge, elected for life, excluding by law all the nobles of every faction from ever filling the office. This mode of government, with frequent contests between the chief citizen families, lasted two centuries. Taking advantage of these feuds, the Visconti of Milan and the kings of France at different times got possession of Genoa. But at length Andrea Doria delivered his country from the French, and changed the form of government by establishing biennial doges, with councils to assist and control them. This form of government lasted from 1528 till the invasion of Italy by Napoleon, when the democratic party overpowered the aristocracy after a dreadful contest, and received the protection of a French garrison. In 1799, the French under Massena were besieged within Genoa by the English and the Austrians, to whom they capitulated; but the city was again given up to the French after the battle of Marengo. A new form of government was then imposed upon Genoa by Napoleon as consul, leaving it only a nominal independence under the name of republic. When he became emperor, however, he compelled the doge and senate to submit to the annexation of Genoa to France. In 1814 Genoa surrendered to the English; and in 1815, by a decision of the Congress of Vienna, it was united to the Sardinian monarchy, and since that time the spirit of commercial enterprise among her citizens has greatly revived, and a large amount of prosperity has been regained by the city. In 1850 the city was seized by insurgents, who drove out the garrison and proclaimed a republic, April 1850; but before the end of the same month these insurgents surrendered to General Marmora.
Pigliotta and Caffaro, the old chroniclers; Istoria dei Liguri e del Genovese, by Serra; Dr William Smith’s Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography; Storia d’Italia, by Botta; Annali di Genova, Giustiniiano, in folio, Genoa, 1557; La Chronique de Genève, 8vo, Paris, 1507; Histoire du Comtat et de l’Empire, by Thiers; Murray’s Hand-Book of Northern Italy, &c.
Genoa, Gulf of, anciently called Sinus Ligusticus, is a large bay in the Mediterranean, lying N. of the island of Corsica, and washing the southern shores of the Sardinian provinces in Italy. No precise points can be named as marking its limits, for it opens widely and imperceptibly from the main body of the Mediterranean. It may, however, be said to comprise the whole space north of the parallel of 43° 40’. N., though it is more usual to confine the appellation to that portion of this large bight which lies to the north of the parallel of San Remo, 43° 48′ 44″ N. Lat., and 7° 50′ 0″ E. Long. Thus defined, its entrance is about 140 miles in width, and its extreme breadth 54 miles. Its outline embraces the beautiful minor bays of Spezzia and Rapallo, as well as the capes of La Mele, Chiapa, and Venere.
township in the Cayuga county, State of New York, United States, situated on Big Salmon Creek, 162 miles W. of Albany. The post-village of the same name is pleasantly situated on the creek in this township, and contains two churches, an academy, two mills, and an iron foundry. The Auburn and Ithaca Railway passes through the village. Pop. (1850) 2503.