Stazione marittima di Genova
Coordinates: 44 ° 24 '48 " N , 8 ° 55' 7.2" E
The Stazione marittima (passenger terminal, literally “sea station”) of the northern Italian port city of Genoa is the most important embarkation and disembarkation point for cruise ship traffic in Genoa and is one of the largest cruise terminals in Italy. It is located on the Ponte dei Mille , in the immediate vicinity of the Porto Antico , the Darsena , the former Faculty of Economics and Commerce (now the Faculty of Economics) and the Galata Maritime Museum .
It has been a center of unloading and trading of goods since the time of the Genoese Republic , and in the 20th century it was the departure point for many migrants who emigrated to America on board transatlantic ships. In 2001 it was completely restored and made the official meeting point for the G8 summit in Genoa . Today it is the seat of the cruise terminal of the port of Genoa .
history
The port area in which the Stazione Marittima is located today has always been the focus of merchant shipping over the centuries and is therefore a remarkable historical site. The increasing activity of commercial traffic and the denser sea connections led to a radical reconstruction of the area in the 19th century, as a result of which the so-called Cap Areanae, the Spornsiedlung, on which the Romanesque St. Thomas Church and the adjoining monastery stood, completely in 1884 were destroyed. The expansion work also included the construction of a new footbridge and road network. The increase in migration flows at the end of the 19th century made it necessary to build a waiting room for passengers. The expansion, led by Genio Civile between 1884 and 1890, contributed to the construction of a one-story masonry building, which included a waiting room, restaurant service, medical care room and a police station. The naming after the German prince Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl, also Friedrich III. called for the footbridge.
At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, Genoa was the departure point for migrants from Liguria and from all of northern Italy . The first years of the 20th century were therefore characterized by a further development in the shipbuilding sector, especially in the manufacture of transoceanic ships that could travel longer and longer distances. The footbridge and the premises of the Stazione Marittima were soon insufficient to accommodate the large flow of travelers, so that new renovation and expansion work began in 1916. Due to further changes in the course of the construction project and the interruption of construction work during the First World War, the construction of the new Stazione Marittima could not be completed until October 1930. The new complex consists of three two-story buildings that are connected to each other by means of walkways. The rooms on the first floor are dedicated to travelers traveling in first and second class. On the ground floor are the rooms for travelers traveling in third class.
The ships for the transoceanic voyages, most of which came from the shipping company Italia - Società di Navigazione (also known as Italian Line ), also caught the attention of political figures and the celebrities of the time who visited the Stazione Marittima in order to make transoceanic trips from there Travel to depart. Between the two world wars, a boom was registered in the tourism industry, from which the providers of the first cruises were also able to benefit. In the 1970s, with the development of air travel, the number of ship passengers fell again.
Today the headquarters of the Stazione Marittima Spa company are located here. This was founded in 1987 and coordinates the passenger terminal of the port of Genoa. In 2001, on the occasion of the G8 summit and its important meetings, which took place in the Stazione Marittima, the area was completely restored.
Four paintings attributed to the painter Galileo Chini are kept in the former first-class customs hall in the western wing of the port station. In the south hall there is also the marble statue Roma Eterna by the sculptor Angelo Zanelli. This was originally located in the main hall of the ocean liner Roma.