Passeggiata Anita Garibaldi a Nervi, Genoa

Passeggiata Anita Garibaldi a Nervi is an important tourist site in Genoa in the Nervi district. It starts from the small port of Nervi, from the mouth of the homonymous stream, up to the ancient port of Capolungo with a total length of almost 2 km.

The promenade originates from an ancient path which, roughly starting from 1823 , was used by the fishermen and farmers of the area to reach the fishing spots or agricultural land then bordering the sea . Given the suggestive landscape, provided above all by the rocky and jagged coast of Nervia and by the view of the Portofino promontory , in 1862 the Marquis Gaetano Gropallo started the construction work of a real promenade. after a long project that initially divided the promenade into two sections since in the center, the land of part of the current promenade, was still annexed to Villa Grimaldi Fassio , now part of the Nervi parks . The first section connected the small port of Nervi with the ancient Gropallo tower while the second section, built in 1872 , connected via Serra Gropallo with Capolungo.

Until April 20, 1944, the promenade was named after the "Princess of Piedmont", but during the Italian Social Republic the prefectural commissioner Antonio Canevaro decided to change its name to "promenade Xª Flottiglia MAS ".

The promenade, owned by the municipality of Genoa which named it on 19 June 1945 after Anita Garibaldi, wife of Giuseppe Garibaldi , is today a destination chosen by Genoese citizens and an attraction for its tourists. From the summer of 1959, the transit of vehicles was prohibited, making it therefore exclusively pedestrian. During the summer it is also the destination of many swimmers and some fishermen, who can access the sea thanks to access ladders (many now closed for safety reasons) on the rocky coast, which often forms real natural pools. Along the promenade there are numerous clubs and some bathing establishments.

The Gropallo tower, formerly also known as the Hay tower because of the wet hay that was burned on the top of the tower to produce smoke and signal dangers, takes its name from the Marquis Gaetano Gropallo, creator of the walk, who bought it in the mid 19th century .

The construction of the tower dates back to the mid- sixteenth century , and was part of the defensive system (also including the castle which in the western part of the promenade overlooks the marina area) built due to the intensification of attacks by the Dragut pirates, but over the centuries it has been modified and restored several times.

In 1936 the tower was purchased by the municipality of Genoa, and subsequently housed the headquarters of the Italian naval league and the Nervi section of the National Alpine Association still present today.