Castello di San Giorgio (Castle of Saint George), La Spezia

Set on a hill overlooking La Spezia, Castello di San Giorgio is a castle-fortress founded in the 1200s, though most of the present-day structure is from the 1600s. There is an archaeological museum in the castle, with a good collection of Roman artifacts. You can walk up a series of stairs to reach the castle or take an elevator.

A visit to the San Giorgio Castle is one of the most popular things to do in La Spezia. San Giorgio Castle is home to an art collection that includes paintings by Rubens and Caravaggio as well as sculptures and frescoes. The visit is free, but reservations are highly recommended. The castle was initially built in the 9th century, but has been rebuilt and renovated multiple times. Now, the castle is open for the public and offers visitors a glimpse into its rich history. Several exhibitions and displays are held at the castle, and it boasts an impressive archeological museum and a library. Visitors can also enjoy the castle’s gardens and stunning city and bay views.

This castle is one of the major landmarks in La Spezia and has stood for hundreds of years. Originally part of the cities defensive fortification network, the castle was constructed in the 13th century by Nicolo Fieschi. The castle can be found on the winding Via XXVII Marzo and features a typical square design with four diagonal guard towers that were popular during that time period. A section of the original wall also still stands and provides an archway for the main road. Inside the castle there is an archaeological museum that contains various finds from this region of Italy dating as far back as the Copper Age and Roman settlements.

The castle of San Giorgio is an ancient Genoese fortification on the hill of the city of La Spezia called "Colle del Poggio". The castle can be reached from via XXVII Marzo which crosses what today remains of the belt of walls erected in the 14th century to defend the city. The castle is made up of two contiguous quadrangular plans. In the upper part of the castle you can see medieval wall fabrics incorporated into structures from later periods. Among these is a square-shaped element (5.50 meters on each side) which is believed to be the tower of the primitive early medieval building , probably the keep of the original defensive system. The fourteenth-century city wall , still partially visible, is made of stone ashlars arranged in a row and with larger squared corner elements. The thin vertical slits for the archers are still clearly visible. The castle retained its medieval structure until the mid- 15th century when the introduction of artillery imposed the construction of new very thick walls, even if of less construction accuracy, with a scarp profile and characterized by slits for firearms for the low shot. The internal rooms, covered by vaults, date back to the works ordered by the Genoese government in the early 17th century . In this period, the passive resistance to falling bomb shells was increased by elastically filling the perimeter walls with wet earth to facilitate compaction. The two most exposed bastions, to the east and north-west, were entirely covered with a new wall system which can still be seen today. Under the entrance portal to the castle, in correspondence with the oldest part of the complex, the remains of the bridge-beating of the original medieval drawbridge are still visible in the green space in front. A tower with Guelph battlements for the archers protects the access portal from the right for easy defense against possible attackers. The fortification has two entrances, one to the north and one to the west on which the coat of arms of Genoa and a bas-relief representing the fight between Saint George and the dragon are placed. ***PH***