Giardini Luzzati: the rediscovered heart of Genoa's old town

Those who visit Genoa in a rush stop at Via del Campo, at Porta Soprana, at Columbus's house. Few walk down Via Ravecca and turn towards the Giardini Luzzati, a square sunk into the maze of the caruggi, at the crossing of sightlines between the church of San Donato, the broad street of Sant'Agostino and Piazza delle Erbe. Here the noise of the tourist flows subsides and what remains is the slower sound of a city that truly lives.

The Roman amphitheatre

The name recalls Emanuele Luzzati (1921-2007), a Genoese set designer and illustrator among the most beloved of the twentieth century. But beneath your feet lies something far older. During excavations for an underground car park in the early 1990s, the remains of a first-century Roman amphitheatre came to light, now visible in an open-air archaeological area. Layered stones that tell two thousand years of history in a few square metres, with no crowded ticket office, no queues.

Among the caruggi

All around opens one of the least-told districts of the old town: alleys that have passed through centuries of history, from the Roman age to the dense medieval fabric of cellars and cisterns. They are narrow caruggi, where the light arrives at a slant and the signs are still those of the trades of long ago. It's worth getting lost without a map, looking up towards the tall façades and the arches that seem to hold back the sky.

The Giardini Luzzati today are above all a shared space: an urban regeneration project born to give the square back to its residents. Children playing, the elderly on benches, a small vegetable garden, a little pitch, tables where you eat Ligurian food at honest prices. It's the face of slow tourism, in which the visitor doesn't consume the place but sits down alongside it.

When to go

Come in the morning or in the late afternoon, outside the hottest and most congested months. Spring and early autumn offer the best light and the caruggi almost empty. A corner of authentic Genoa, where you can stop and breathe instead of photographing and leaving.

Related guides: Instead of the Cinque Terre: colourful Ligurian villages without the crush.

How to get there

The Giardini Luzzati are in the heart of Genoa's old town, in the Sarzano and Porta Soprana area, among the caruggi. They are reached on foot or by the city metro, whose Sarzano/Sant'Agostino stop is just steps away. The reference railway stations are Genova Brignole and Genova Piazza Principe, both connected to the centre; the airport is Genoa-Cristoforo Colombo. The maze of alleys can only be explored on foot, so it's best to leave the car in the car parks in the area.

Practical guides

• How to get to Genova: complete transport guide
• What to see in Genova in 2 days
• Where to stay in Genova: neighborhoods, accommodation and practical tips
• Where to eat in Genoa: pesto, focaccia and trattorias in the caruggi