Editing Liguria (section)

==History==
{{see also|List of museums in Liguria}}
=== Prehistory ===
[[File:Le caverne.jpg|thumb|left|The Balzi Rossi caves, located on a cliff about 100 meters high, show traces of human occupation from the Middle Palaeolithic ([[Pleistocene|300,000]] years) to the foundation of the ancient city of [[Ventimiglia]] in Liguria. This constitutes the longest human occupation in the world of a geographical site.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sitiarcheologiciditalia.it/en/balzi-rossi-caves/ | title=Balzi Rossi, one of the most important prehistoric shrines in Italy |website=www.sitiarcheologiciditalia.it | date=27 March 2018 }}</ref>]]

Evidence of human presence in Liguria dates back to prehistoric times. Near the port of Nice, in Terra Amata, traces of the oldest huts built by nomadic hunters, around [[Pleistocene|300,000]] years ago, have been found. The stratigraphy showed different settlement periods, with the remains of oval huts with a central hearth, chipped pebbles, scrapers and captured animals such as wild boar, turtles, Merk's rhinoceros, southern elephants, aurochs and various birds. Traces of Neanderthal Man have been found near Loano. In the caves of Toirano, signs of frequentation dating back to the end of the Upper Palaeolithic are visible. Remains reminiscent of Cro-Magnon Man have appeared in the Balzi Rossi cave in Ventimiglia. At the Arene Candide there is evidence of Neolithic and epigravettian strata dating between 20,000 and 18,700 years ago, while in the caves along the Pennavaira stream, in the valley of the same name in the Ingauno area, human remains have been found dating back as far as 7,000 BC.
[[File:Resti del principe delle arene candide.jpg|thumb|Burial of an adolescent from the Upper Palaeolithic (29,000 years), having led archaeologists to nickname him the "[[Arene Candide|young prince]]". About fifteen years old, he lay on his back on a layer of red ocher seven meters from the surface facing south, he wore a headgear decorated with shell beads and pierced deer teeth and squirrel tails on the thorax (Liguria region).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.mudifinale.com/en/il-giovane-principe/ | title=The Young Prince of the Arene Candide |website=www.mudifinale.com }}</ref>]]

Copper begins to be mined from the middle of the [[4th millennium BC]] in Liguria with the Libiola and Monte Loreto mines dated to [[37th century BC|3700 BC]].
These are the oldest copper mines in the western Mediterranean basin.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Monte-Loreto-Fourth-millennium-cal-BC-mineshaft-ML6_fig1_265409510 |title=Figure 3. Monte Loreto. Fourth-millennium cal BC mineshaft (ML6) |via=www.researchgate.net}}</ref>

From the 2nd millennium B.C. ([[Neolithic]]), there are records of the presence of Ligurians over a vast territory, corresponding to most of northern Italy.

It is commonly thought that the ancient Ligurians settled on the Mediterranean coastline, divided in several tribes, from the [[Rhône|Rhone]] to the [[Arno]] (so we are told by [[Polybius]]), pushing their presence as far as the Spanish Mediterranean coast to the west and the Tiber to the south-east, colonizing the coasts of major islands such as [[Corsica]], [[Sardinia]] and [[Sicily]]. Numerous ceramic artefacts remain of them.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Zamboni |first=Lorenzo |year=2022 |title=Ceramiche d'impasto decorate in Cisalpina tra seconda età del Ferro e romanizzazione - appunti per una ricerca (PDF) |url=https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/lanx/article/download/17090/15056 |website=Milano University Press}}</ref>

=== The foundation of Genoa ===
{{Main|History of Genoa}}
[[File:TavolaPolcevera.jpg|thumb|The [[Polcevera]] bronze tablet, evidence of Genoa's Roman and pre-Roman past]]

The Genoa area has been inhabited since the fifth or fourth millennium BC.<ref>The objects found during the works for the underground had been exposed in the exhibition ''Archeologia Metropolitana. Piazza Brignole e Acquasola'', held at the Ligurian Archeology Museum (30 November 2009 - 14 February 2010) ([http://www.museidigenova.it/spip.php?article479] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230235040/http://www.museidigenova.it/spip.php?article479|date=December 30, 2013|data=30 dicembre 2013}})</ref> In ancient times this area was inhabited by [[Ligures]] (ancient people after whom Liguria is named). According to excavations carried out in the city between 1898 and 1910, the Ligure population that lived in Genoa maintained trade relations with the [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscans]] and the [[Greeks]], since several objects from these populations were found.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Melli|first=Piera |title=Genova preromana. Città portuale del Mediterraneo tra il VII e il III secolo a.C. |year=2007 |publisher=Frilli |isbn=978-8875633363 |language=it}}</ref><ref>Marco Milanese, ''Scavi nell'oppidum preromano di Genova'', L'Erma di Bretschneider, Roma 1987 [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ge0mrXTQVIUC&pg=PA11 on-line] in GoogleBooks; Piera Melli, ''Una città portuale del Mediterraneo tra il VII e il III secolo a.C.'', Genova, Fratelli Frilli ed., 2007.</ref> In the 5th century BC the first town, or [[oppidum]], was founded at the top of the hill today called Castello (Castle), which is now inside the medieval old town. The ancient Ligurian city was known as Stalia (Σταλìα), referred to in this way by [[Artemidorus Ephesius]] and [[Pomponius Mela]]; this toponym is possibly preserved in the name of Staglieno, some {{convert|3|km|0|abbr=on}} from the coast. Stalia had an alliance with [[Roman Republic|Rome]] through a ''foedus aequum'' (equal pact) in the course of the [[Second Punic War]] (218-201&nbsp;BC). The [[Carthaginians]] accordingly destroyed it in 209&nbsp;BC. The town was rebuilt and, after the [[Carthaginian Wars]] ended in 146&nbsp;BC, it received municipal rights. The original ''castrum'' then expanded towards the current areas of Santa Maria di Castello and the San Lorenzo promontory. Trade goods included skins, timber, and honey. Goods were moved to and from Genoa's hinterland, including major cities like [[Tortona]] and [[Piacenza]]. An amphitheater was also found there among other archaeological remains from the Roman period.

=== Roman times ===
[[File:Regio IX Liguria.jpg|thumb|Map of [[Roman Italy#Augustan organization|Roman Regio ''IX Liguria'']], between the River [[Var (river)|Var]] and [[Magra]]]]
[[File:Luna Amphitheater1.jpg|thumb|The Roman amphitheatre of [[Luni, Italy|Luni]] (1st century AD)]]

During the first [[Punic War]], the ancient Ligurians were divided, some of them siding with [[Carthage]], others, including the inhabitants of Stalia (later [[Genoa]]), with Rome. Under [[Augustus]], Liguria was designated a [[Augustan regions of Italy|region of Italy]] (''Regio IX Liguria'') stretching from the coast to the banks of the [[Po River]]. The great Roman roads (Aurelia and Julia Augusta on the coast, Postumia and Aemilia Scauri towards the inland) helped strengthen territorial unity and increase communication and trade. Important towns developed on the coast, of which evidence is left in the ruins of [[Albenga]], Ventimiglia and [[Luni, Italy|Luni]]. In 180 B.C., the Romans, in order to dispose of Ligurian rebels in their seeking of the [[Gallic Wars|conquest of Gaul]], they deported 47,000 Liguri [[Apuani]], confining them to the Samnite area between [[Avellino]] and [[Benevento]].{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

===Middle Ages===
[[File:La Ligurie de Mercator 1576.jpg|thumb|Map of ancient Liguria, between the river [[Var (river)|Var]] and [[Magra]]. [[Cannes]] was annexed by France in [[Middle Ages]].]]
[[File:Repubblica di Genova.png|thumb|Territories of the [[Republic of Genoa]] (shown in purple)]]

Between the 4th and the 10th centuries, Liguria was dominated by the [[Byzantine]]s, the [[Lombards]] of King [[Rothari]] (about 641) and the [[Franks]] (about 774). It was also invaded by [[Saracen]] and [[Normans|Norman]] raiders. In the 10th century, once the danger of pirates decreased, the Ligurian territory was divided into three marches: Obertenga (east), Arduinica (west) and Aleramica (centre). In the 11th and 12th centuries, the marches were split into fees, and then with the strengthening of the bishops' power, the feudal structure began to partially weaken. The main Ligurian towns, especially on the coast, became city-states, over which [[Genoa]] soon extended its rule. Inland, however, fiefs belonging to noble families survived for a very long time.{{fix|text=vague}}

Between the 11th century (when the Genoese ships played a major role in the first crusade, carrying knights and troops to the Middle-East for a fee) and the 15th century, the [[Republic of Genoa]] experienced an extraordinary political and commercial success (mainly spice trades with the Orient). It was one of the most powerful maritime republics in the [[Mediterranean]] from the 12th to the 14th century: after the decisive victory in the [[Battle of Meloria (1284)]], it acquired control over the [[Tyrrhenian Sea]] and was present in the nerve centres of power during the last phase of the Byzantine empire, [[Genoese colonies|having colonies]] up to [[Black Sea]] and [[Crimean]].

After the introduction of the title of doge for life (1339) and the election of [[Simone Boccanegra]], Genoa resumed its struggles against the [[Marquisate of Finale]] and the Counts of [[Laigueglia]] and it conquered again the territories of [[Finale Ligure|Finale]], [[Oneglia]] and [[Porto Maurizio]]. In spite of its military and commercial successes, Genoa fell prey to the internal factions which put pressure on its political structure. Due to the vulnerable situation, the rule of the republic went to the hands of the [[Visconti of Milan|Visconti family]] of [[Milan]]. After their expulsion by the popular forces under Boccanegra's lead, the republic remained in Genoese hands until 1396, when the internal instability led the doge [[Antoniotto I Adorno|Antoniotto Adorno]] to surrender the title of Seignior of Genoa to the king of France. The French were driven away in 1409 and Liguria went back under Milanese control in 1421, thus remaining until 1435.

===Early modern===
[[File:Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio - Ritratto di Cristoforo Colombo (1520).jpg|thumb|left|upright|The Italian explorer [[Christopher Columbus]] leads an expedition to the New World, 1492. [[Voyages of Christopher Columbus|His voyages]] are celebrated as the discovery of the Americas from a European perspective, and they opened a [[Early modern period|new era]] in the history of humankind and sustained contact between the two worlds.]]
The alternation of French and Milanese dominions over Liguria went on until the first half of the 16th century. The French influence ceased in 1528, when [[Andrea Doria]] allied with the powerful king of Spain and imposed an aristocratic government, which gave the republic relative stability for about 250 years.

Genoese explorer [[Christopher Columbus]]'s speculative proposal to reach the [[East Indies]] by sailing westward received the support of the Spanish crown, which saw in it an opportunity to gain the upper hand over rival powers in the contest for the lucrative [[spice trade]] with [[Asia]]. During his first voyage in 1492, instead of reaching Japan as he had intended, Columbus landed in the [[The Bahamas|Bahamas archipelago]], at a locale he named ''San Salvador''. Over the course of three more voyages, Columbus visited the [[Greater Antilles|Greater]] and [[Lesser Antilles]], as well as the [[Caribbean Sea|Caribbean]] coast of [[Venezuela]] and Central America, claiming them for the [[Spanish Empire]].
[[File:Casa di Colombo Genova foto 2.jpg|thumb|[[Christopher Columbus House]] in [[Genoa]], Italy, an 18th-century reconstruction of the house in which Columbus grew up. The original was likely destroyed during the 1684 [[bombardment of Genoa]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Una Giornata nella Città |trans-title=A Day in the City  |first1=Corinna |last1=Praga |author2=Laura Monac |publisher=Sagep Editrice |location=Genoa |year=1992 |page=14 |language=it}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.ortidicarignano.it/files/seiitinerariinportoria.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.ortidicarignano.it/files/seiitinerariinportoria.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live |chapter=Casa di Colombo |first1=Alfredo |last1=Preste |author2=Alessandro Torti |author3=Remo Viazzi |title=Sei itinerari in Portoria |publisher=Grafiche Frassicomo |trans-title=Six itineraries in Portoria  |location=Genova |year=1997 |language=it}}</ref>]]

The value of trade routes through Genoa to the Near East declined during the [[Age of Discovery]], when Portuguese explorers discovered routes to Asia around the [[Cape of Good Hope]]. The international crises of the seventeenth century, which ended for Genoa with the 1684 [[Bombardment of Genoa|bombardment]] by [[Louis XIV]]'s fleet, restored French influence over the republic. Consequently, the Ligurian territory was crossed by the [[Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861)|Piedmontese]] and [[Holy Roman Empire|Austrian]] armies when these two states came into conflict with France. Austria occupied Genoa in 1746, but the [[Habsburg]] troops were driven away by a popular insurrection. Napoleon's first Italian campaign marked the end of the oligarchic Genoese state, which was transformed into the [[Ligurian Republic]], modelled on the [[First French Republic|French Republic]]. After the union of Oneglia and Loano (1801), Liguria was annexed to the [[First French Empire|French Empire]] (1805) and divided by [[Napoleon]] into three departments: [[Montenotte (department)|Montenotte]] (capital [[Savona]]), [[Gênes]] (capital [[Genoa]]) and [[Apennins]] (capital [[Chiavari]]).

===Late modern and contemporary===
[[File:County of nice.svg|thumb|A map of the [[County of Nice]] western part of Liguria showing the area of the [[Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861)|Italian kingdom of Sardinia]] annexed in 1860 to France (light brown). The area in red had already become part of France before 1860]]
After a short period of independence in 1814, the [[Congress of Vienna]] (1815) decided that Liguria should be annexed to the [[Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861)|Kingdom of Sardinia]]. The Genoese uprising against the House of Savoy in 1821, which was put down with great bloodshed, aroused the population's national sentiments. Some of the most prestigious figures of ''[[Risorgimento]]'' were born in Liguria ([[Giuseppe Mazzini]], [[Goffredo Mameli|Mameli]], [[Nino Bixio]]). Italian patriot and general [[Giuseppe Garibaldi]], who was born in the neighbouring [[Nice]] (then part of the [[Savoyard state|Sardinian state]]), started his [[Expedition of the Thousand]] on the evening of 5 May 1860 from a rock in Quarto, a quarter of Genoa.

In late 19th and early 20th century, the region's economic growth was remarkable: steel mills and ship yards flourished along the coast from [[Imperia]] to [[La Spezia]], while the port of Genoa became the main commercial hub of industrializing Northern Italy. During the [[Second World War]], Liguria experienced heavy bombings, hunger and two years of occupation by the [[Nazi|German]] troops, against whom a liberation struggle was led—among the most effective in Italy. When Allied troops eventually entered Genoa, they were welcomed by Italian partisans who, in a successful insurrection, had freed the city and accepted the surrender of the local German command. For this feat, the city was awarded the gold medal for military valour.