Pesto alla Genovese basil, garlic, pine nuts, pecorino and oil pounded in a mortar
Basil, garlic, pine nuts, pecorino and oil, pounded in a marble mortar: the sauce that has had a written recipe since 1863, born in Genoa.
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Genoa is one of the fourteen metropolitan cities created by Italy's 2014 local-government reform; on 1 January 2015 it took over from the old province, keeping the same borders and the same headquarters in Palazzo Doria Spinola. Its 67 municipalities are squeezed between the Ligurian Sea and the Apennine ridges that separate Liguria from Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna. More than half the population lives in the city of Genoa itself.
In town the route runs through Via Garibaldi and the Rolli palaces, the aquarium on the old harbour and Boccadasse, the fishermen's corner where locals eat ice cream facing the water. East of the city the coast changes: boats from Camogli reach the abbey of San Fruttuoso, Portofino's small square is photographed far more than its size suggests, and the Tigullio bay, with Rapallo, Chiavari and Sestri Levante, keeps things less formal.
Towns in the province of Genoa
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67 towns
Arenzano Avegno Bargagli Bogliasco Borzonasca Busalla Camogli Campo Ligure Campomorone Carasco Casarza Ligure Casella Castiglione Chiavarese Ceranesi Chiavari Cicagna Cogoleto Cogorno Coreglia Ligure Crocefieschi Davagna Fascia Favale di Malvaro Fontanigorda Genoa Capital Gorreto Isola del Cantone Lavagna Leivi Lorsica Lumarzo Masone Mele Mezzanego Mignanego Moconesi Moneglia Montebruno Montoggio Ne Neirone Orero Pieve Ligure Portofino Propata Rapallo Recco Rezzoaglio Ronco Scrivia Rondanina Rossiglione Rovegno San Colombano Certenoli Sant'Olcese Santa Margherita Ligure Santo Stefano d'Aveto Savignone Serra Riccò Sestri Levante Sori Tiglieto Torriglia Tribogna Uscio Valbrevenna Vobbia Zoagli
The best of Province of Genoa
The top 20 places in Genoa
Our editors' ranking: the area's most important places, drawn from the individual town guides. See the national rankings →
1 🏛️ Squares & old towns Portofino Piazzetta 📍 Portofino Its real name is piazza Martiri dell'Olivetta: painted houses, moored boats, Castello Brown above. 
2 🏰 Castles & palaces Via Garibaldi e i Palazzi dei Rolli 📍 Genoa The palaces where the Republic drew lots to decide who would house kings and envoys. 
3 🎈 Unique experiences Acquario di Genova 📍 Genoa Designed by Renzo Piano in 1992, Italy's largest aquarium houses thousands of animals from ecosystems across the globe. - 4 San Fruttuoso Abbey Camogli · ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries
- 5 Boccadasse Genoa · 🏛️ Squares & old towns
- 6 Lanterna di Genova Genoa · 🏖️ Beaches & sea
- 7 viadotto Polcevera Genoa · 🏛️ Squares & old towns
- 8 palazzo Ducale Genoa · 🏰 Castles & palaces
- 9 Museo di storia naturale Giacomo Doria Genoa · 🖼️ Museums
- 10 Palazzo Reale di Genova Genoa · 🏰 Castles & palaces
- 11 Opera Carlo Felice Genova Genoa · 🖼️ Museums
- 12 palazzo Doria-Tursi Genoa · 🏰 Castles & palaces
- 13 basilica di Santa Maria Assunta Genoa · ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries
- 14 cattedrale di San Lorenzo Genoa · ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries
- 15 chiesa di Santa Maria di Castello Genoa · ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries
- 16 Strade Nuove e complesso dei Palazzi dei Rolli di Genova Genoa · 🌋 Nature & views
- 17 Villa del Principe Genoa · 🏰 Castles & palaces
- 18 basilica della Santissima Annunziata del Vastato Genoa · ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries
- 19 basilica di Santa Maria delle Vigne Genoa · ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries
- 20 basilica di San Siro Genoa · ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries
Genoa and around, on the map
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
🍝 At the table: Liguria
✨ Liguria by theme
🏖️ Seaside 8 🏘️ Villages 3 🍷 Food & wine 1 🏛️ UNESCO heritage 1
Tours, tickets and experiences
Bookable on GetYourGuideProvince of Genoa
Upcoming events in Genoa
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Saint Martin and the panel that returned from Genoa
📅 Every year, on 11 November
On 11 November Zoagli celebrates Saint Martin; the 18th-century parish church holds a small wooden panel of the Madonna and Child, once venerated in Genoa.
Saint Martin of Tours, patron told in 26 slate panels on the town hall
📅 Every year, on 11 November
Tribogna celebrates Saint Martin of Tours on 11 November, in the church first mentioned in 1261 and raised to parish status in 1639 by the Genoese cardinal Stefano Durazzo; on the town hall, a bas-relief of 26 slate panels tells the town's history.
Saint Columban, patron who gives his name to a municipality once a monastic cell of Bobbio Abbey
📅 Every year, on 23 November
San Colombano Certenoli celebrates its patron, Saint Columban, on 23 November; the territory, mentioned as early as the 10th century as a monastic cell of the abbey of San Colombano di Bobbio under the name Bembelia, became a fief of the Fieschi counts of Lavagna from 1171.
Saint Nicholas, patron of the town of Andersen and of the Tigullio Palio
📅 Every year, on 6 December; the Tigullio Rowing Palio is held between May and August
Sestri Levante celebrates Saint Nicholas on 6 December; the town is known for the Andersen Festival and for the Tigullio Rowing Palio, in which seven towns of the gulf compete every year, between May and August, in traditional Ligurian gozzo boat races.