I want to return to the caruggi of Genova, with a tripod and someone to wander with ... as they aren’t always the wisest of places to pull out a big camera and get lost in your work however, that said, I’ve never had any trouble in there.
I love the ancient alleyways here in the historical heart of Genova. The general rule of thumb is that if the street lights aren’t working, then avoid them. But some have been renovated and I find most of them beautiful, even the dilapidated crumbling ones.
One story goes that, for military reasons, the streets were made narrow and the houses were built close together to slow down the invaders, most particularly the Moors, who frequently attacked this ancient city. I read that the people of Lombard, the Normans and the Saracen also attacked Genova.
Actually, talking of invaders, in 1155, the hugely impressive city wall was built to protect the city from Emperor Federico Barbarossa ... the man I had only previously known as Barbarossa. And then the 16th century was known as the Century of the Genovese and local banks here were lending money to the European monarchs, making it one of the most powerful cities of the time.
Oh yes, an impressive city, an impressive history.
