Savona is a city to discover! It is a city that offers attractions from all points of view: historical, cultural and artistic. The way to get to know it better is to do so with a specialized tour guide.
Savona had an important history, and after a long struggle with Genoa in 1528 that led to its subjugation and decline that lasted until the Napoleonic era, the city was able to redesign its image and to explore new opportunities for economic and cultural growth. .
Savona's golden age was between the 15th and 16th centuries when the ascension to the papacy of the Savonese Sixtus IV (1471-1484) and later by his grandson Julius II (1503-1513) allowed Savona to experience the most intense season in its history, the “Roveresque Renaissance.” For their city Sixtus IV and Julius II commissioned works of great prestige, such as the Sistine Chapel (1481-83) and the inlaid wooden choir (16th cent.), visible within the ’complex of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption.
The primitive core of Savona, founded on the coastal hill, was razed to the ground between 1542 and 1544 by the Republic of Genoa to build in its place the mighty Priamàr fortress; few remains of the ancient Cathedral and the church of St. Dominic are visible today. In the fortress, which was later converted into a recluse, was imprisoned Mazzini, who conceived the Giovine Italia here (1830-31).
The downtown retains its medieval charm. Pia Street, along which line the sumptuous townhouses of the merchant aristocracy, is named after Pope Pius VII, a prisoner of Napoleon in Savona from 1809 to 1812. His apartments can be visited inside the Bishop's Palace.
Among the speakers, of particular beauty are the’Oratory of the Risen Christ and the’Oratory of Our Lady of Castello, which preserves the monumental della Rovere polyptych, made in 1490 by V. Foppa and L. Brea.
The Della Rovere Palace, the work of architect Giuliano da Sangallo, was built starting in 1495 at the behest of Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, the future Pope Julius II.
The Pawnshop (1479) is now home to a Museum of Ceramics to ’avant-garde: from fifteenth- and sixteenth-century “laggioni,” to majolica inspired by oriental porcelain, to the better-known Baroque tradition, to contemporary design.
Ancient, modern and contemporary meet in the halls of the Art Gallery of Savona. Among the great masters of the 20th century: Picasso, Mirò, De Chirico, Fontana, Magritte.
The Nineteenth Century Paleopaca Street, the good living room of the city, is characterized by arcaded streets and squares. In one of them is the Monument to the Fallen (1927); every day at 6 p.m. it strikes 21 chimes (one per letter of the alphabet) in memory of the victims of all wars. During this commemoration, road and pedestrian traffic in the square and surrounding streets stops for one minute as a mark of respect.
There are numerous buildings in the style liberty by richly decorated facades, and a scenic tour of the nineteenth-century city will be as unexpected as it is interesting because Savona is one of the most fascinating Art Nouveau cities in Italy.
Between the late nineteenth century and the Second World War Savona was one of Italy's most important industrial cities, and the port was home to several steel mills. In the 1990s Savona's industrial history ended and the city was able to convert itself into an important tourist destination. The port was completely renovated thanks to the intervention of Costa Crociere, which made it one of the most modern cruise ports in Italy. The cruise port was designed by Catalan architect Ricardo Bofill, who was also responsible for the restoration of the Old San Paolo Hospital building, now one of the city's multipurpose centers.
The guided tour of Savona can be combined with:
- guided tour of Albissola, maintaining a fil rouge related to ceramics
- guided tour of Noli
- guided tour of Finalborgo
- guided tour of Albenga.
Themed tours:
- Savona, city of the Della Rovere family and Savona's Sistine Chapel
- Savona City of Art Nouveau
- Savona city of ceramics
- Savona city of Pius VII and Napoleon
- Savona city of street food
