La Spezia is located at the head of a narrow gulf similar to a fjord, the only one of its kind in the Mediterranean, and boasts magnificent towns and villages such as Lerici, San Terenzo and Portovenere, as well as fabulous bays and beaches. The Gulf of La Spezia is also known as Golfo dei Poeti, the Gulf of Poets, because it was home to two famous Romantic poets, Lord Byron and Percy B. Shelley.
Inhabited as far back as prehistoric times, La Spezia was first colonized by the Romans, and then became a flourishing Medieval town. Under the dominion of Genoa for centuries, it was later part of the Kingdom of Sardinia, until Italian Unification.
The city owes its current growth to the construction of the Military Arsenal in the early 20th century, which attracted numerous immigrants, and to the port, the third-largest in the Mediterranean in terms of cargo traffic.
Today, La Spezia is a modern city, popular with tourists who come to visit the gulf and the city’s numerous other attractions, and also set out from here for trips to the villages that make up the famous Cinque Terre.
There is a great deal to enjoy in the city, such as the splendid Morin walk, looking onto the sea, and the magnificent churches such as the age-old Santa Maria dell’Assunta, with its fine ceramics, as well as Art Nouveau buildings, noble palaces dating back centuries, and numerous museums.
One museum I recommend is the Naval Museum, the largest in Italy, where you can learn about the history of underwater diving. Other interesting museums include the Amedeo Lia Museum, the Transport Museum – like no other of its kind – and above all the Civic Museum, housed in the Castle of San Giorgio, where you can see the famous Stelae Statues, testifying to a mysterious civilization that inhabited the area during the Stone Age.
Fans of modern art, on the other hand, shouldn’t miss a visit to Piazza Verdi, to admire the distinctive arches sculpted by the French artist Daniel Buren.
An interesting fact: La Spezia was already a popular tourist destination in the early 19th century, with famous holidaymakers including Friedrich Nietzsche and Richard Wagner, who composed his opera Das Rheingold here.
So get ready to visit the wonders of this splendid city.
Enjoy your stay!
