383 



GENOA. 



moirea Inedits de Mud. la I'oittt. tie Genlis, sur le 

 iSme Siccie et la Revolution Fran^aise, depuis 1756 

 jusyu'd nos Jours (Paris, 1825, 8 volumes). 



GENOA ; a Sardinian dukedom, and a city on the 

 Mediterranean sea, which here forms the gulf of 

 Genoa. The city contains 76,000 inhabitants, 15,000 

 houses, and is about a league in diameter. On the 

 land side, it is surrounded by a double line of fortifi- 

 cations : the outer ones are extended beyond the 

 hills which overlook the city. The spacious harbour 

 is enclosed and made secure by two moles, and the 

 city lies in a semicircular form around it. It was 

 made a free port in 1751 . In the small inner harbour, 

 called Darsena, vessels find shelter from every wind. 

 Genoa has been styled the magnificent, the proud, 

 partly because of its fine situation, like an amphi- 

 theatre on the sea, with overhanging mountains ; and 

 partly on account of the splendid palaces of the weal- 

 thy nobility. From the sea, Genoa makes a grand ap- 

 pearance ; but, notwithstanding its numerous palaces, 

 one can scarce pronounce it really beautiful ; for, in 

 consequence of its confined site, and of its being on 

 a declivity, the streets are mostly narrow, dirty, and 

 so steep, that but few of them can be passed in car- 

 riages, or on horseback. Hence the people make 

 their visits in sedans, if the weather is bad, which are 

 carried behind them when the \v eather is fine. There 

 are, however, some streets which are broad and regu- 

 lar, particularly that called Balbi, and the elegant new 

 street, in which are many palaces with marble fronts. 

 Among the buildings thus distinguished are the cathe- 

 dral, the palace of the former doge, the palaces of 

 Balbi and Doria, and the Jesuit college, rebuilt in 

 1817. The city has an aqueduct, which supplies it 

 with water from fountains, and fine walks. A con- 

 siderable trade is carried on in olive oil and fruit. 

 There are also manufactures of silks, of some impor- 

 tance, particularly the black stuff's, velvet, damask, 

 and stockings, which employ about 1500 looms ; also 

 of cloth, cotton hose, hats, macaroni, candied fruits, 

 chocolate, white lead, &c. The silk is obtained partly 

 in the province itself, and is also brought from the 

 rest of Italy, especially Calabria, Sicily, the island 

 of Cyprus and Syria. Genoa is now the seat of an 

 archbishop, and possesses a senate, a high court, and 

 commercial tribunal, a university, three literary 

 societies, a trading company, established in 1816, 

 St George's bank, and a marine school. 



The late republic, and present duchy of Genoa, 

 containing 2330 square miles, and 590,500 inhabitants, 

 is bounded east by Lucca and Tuscany, west and 

 north by Savoy, Piedmont, and Lombardy, and south 

 by the sea. It was divided into two parts, the 

 eastern and the western (Riviera di Lcvante and 

 Riviera di Ponente). In the former lie Genoa and 

 Sestri di Levante ; in the latter, Vintimiglia, San 

 Remo, Savona, Finale. Along the north side appear 

 the Apennines, which extend in neighbouring masses, 

 nearly to the coast. The territory is, notwithstand- 

 ing the mountainous nature of the country, very fer- 

 tile. The nobility are remarkable for their learning 

 and good morals, the people for their spirit and in- 

 dustry. The original inhabitants of the country 

 were the Ligurians, who were conquered by the 

 Romans, during the interval between the first and 

 second Punic war. After the decline of the Roman 

 empire in the West, they fell into the hands of the 

 Lombards, and with them became subject to the 

 Franks. After the downfall of the empire of Char- 

 lemagne, Genoa erected itself into a republic, and, 

 till the eleventh century, shared the fortunes of the 

 cities of Lombardy. The situation of the city was 

 favourable to commerce, and it pursued the trade of 

 the Levant, even earlier than Venice. The acquisi- 

 tions of the Genoese on the continent gave rise, as 



early as the beginning of the twelfth century, to vio- 

 lent contentions with, the enterprising and industrious 

 merchants and tradesmen of Pisa, who became their 

 near neighbours, after Genoa had made itself master 

 of the gulf of Spezzia. In 1174, Genoa possessed 

 Montferrat, Monaco, Nizza, Marseilles, almost the 

 whole coast of Provence, and the island of Corsica. 

 The quarrel with the Pisans continued above two 

 hundred years, and peace was not concluded until 

 Genoa had destroyed the harbour of Pisa, and con- 

 quered the island of Elba. Not less violent was the 

 contest with Venice, which was first terminated in 

 1282, by the peace of Turin. As it was the domin- 

 ion over the western part of the Mediterranean which 

 formed the subject of dispute with Pisa, so, in the 

 war with Venice, it was contended which should pos- 

 sess the eastern portion of that sea. 



The Genoese made commercial treaties with the 

 different nations of the Levant. Their superiority in 

 trade was at its highest point at the time of the 

 revival of the Greeco- Byzantine empire, about the 

 middle of the thirteenth century. Long before had 

 the inactivity of Constantinople allowed the Genoese 

 to obtain a large share in the commerce of the Gre- 

 cian states. But when the Genoese took possession 

 of the town of Caffa, now Feodosia, in the peninsula 

 of Crimea (see Caffa), they also acquired the control 

 of the Black sea, and obtained the rich commodities 

 of India by the way of the Caspian. If Genoa had 

 adopted a wise colonial system, and had known how 

 to bind her settlements together by a common inte- 

 rest, and to knit them, as it were, to the parent 

 state, she would have held the first rank among the 

 commercial nations at the end of the middle ages. 

 After the conquest of Constantinople, by Mahomet 

 II., in 1453, the Genoese soon suffered for the aid 

 they had imprudently afforded the Turks. Mahomet 

 took from them their settlements on the black sea, 

 in 1475. They still, it is true, carried on, for a long 

 time, a lucrative trade with the inhabitants of this 

 region; but at last all access to this branch of trade 

 was denied them by the Turks. Even the commer- 

 cial intercourse which the Tartars of the Crimea had 

 for a considerable time maintained with Genoa, in 

 their own ships, was cut off by Turkish jealousy. 



While the power and commercial rank of Genoa 

 were attaining their height by means of their foreign 

 trade and acquisitions of territory, the city was in- 

 ternally convulsed by civil discord and party spirit. 

 The hostility of the democrats and aristocrats, and 

 the different parties among the latter, occasioned 

 continual disorder. In 1339, a chief magistrate, the 

 doge, was elected for life, by the people : but he 

 had not sufficient influence to reconcile the contend- 

 ing parties. A council was appointed to aid him ; 

 yet, after all attempts to restore order to the state, 

 there was no internal tranquillity ; indeed, the city 

 sometimes submitted to a foreign yoke, in order to 

 get rid of the disastrous anarchy which the conflict 

 of parties produced. In the midst of this confusion, 

 St George's bank (compera di S. Georgia), was found- 

 ed. It owed its origin to the loans furnished by the 

 wealthy citizens to the state, and was conscientiously 

 supported by the alternately dominant parties. 



In 1528, the disturbed state regained tranquillity 

 and order, which lasted till the end of the eighteenth 

 century. The form of government established was a 

 strict aristocracy. The doge was elected to be the 

 head of the state. He was required to be fifty years 

 of age, and to reside in the palace of the republic 

 (palazza della signoria), where also the senate held 

 their meetings. The doge had the right of proposing 

 all laws in the senate. Without his acquiescence, 

 the senate could pass no decree ; and the orders of 

 the government were issued in his name. He con- 



