La Spezia

Port in northwest Italy and chief Italian naval base on the Gulf of La Spezia, 80 km/50 mi southeast of Genoa, on the Riviera di Levante; population (2001) 91,400. Industries include shipbuilding, engineering, oil-refining, and the manufacture of electrical goods and textiles.

The port was first mentioned in records in 1224. The town developed in the mid-19th century and became an important naval dockyard, replacing Genoa, in 1865. The Military Arsenal was built in 1869, making the city a strategic military location.

The town is predominantly modern, with wide avenues and large gardens. It has two churches dating from the 13th century and several important museums including the Naval Museum, which houses the transferred Genovese Naval Museum, with many ancient model ships of Egyptian, Roman, and Italian origin. The town also contains a National Transport Museum and an art gallery, which houses pieces from the 13th–18th century. The English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley drowned in the Gulf of La Spezia in 1822.

La Spezia

Province of northwest Italy in eastern Liguria region, located by the sea on the Gulf of La Spezia; capital La Spezia, area 882 sq km/341 sq mi; population (2000 est) 303,800.

The first written mention of the area was in 1224. Over the centuries the city was controlled by several different groups, the most important of which were the Genoese. Due to its coastal location the area was subject to frequent raids by pirates, as well as by Spanish and French fleets.

Features include the Roman villa at Varignano and the medieval mountainside hamlets of Biassa and Campiglia. An old church, reconstructed in the 18th century, is to be found at Marinasco, while 19th century fortifications are found at the Fort of Montalbano.