Genoa

The city's modern name may derive from the Latin word genua ([ˈɡe.nu.aː]; singular: genu [ˈɡe.nuː]), meaning "knees" (because it was deemed to be on the "knee region" of a "booted leg"). An alternative origin for it is the theonym of Janus, a Roman deity said to have two faces: a fore-turned one and a back-turned one, which was eventually used as a metaphor for the city's two sides (or "faces"): the sea-facing southside and the mountains-facing northside. The Latin word ianua ([ˈjaː.nu.a]) is yet another proposed source of the name, related to Janus's name and meaning "door" or "passage" (viz. into the Italian Peninsula). Besides those, the name Genoa may otherwise refer to the city's geographical position at the centre of the Ligurian coastal arch. The Latin name oppidum Genua ([ˈop.pi.dum ˈɡe.nu. …

The city's area has been inhabited since the fifth or fourth millennium BC, making it one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. In the fifth century BC the first town, or oppidum, was founded probably by the ancient Ligures (which gave the name to the modern region of Liguria) at the top of the hill today called Castello (Castle), which is now inside the medieval old town. In this period the Genoese town, inhabited by the "Genuati" (a group of Ligure peoples), was considered "the emporium of the Ligurians", given its strong commercial character. The "Genoese oppidum" had an alliance with Rome through a foedus aequum (equal pact) in the course of the Second Punic War. The Carthaginians accordingly destroyed it in 209 BC. The town was rebuilt and, after the Carthaginian Wars ended in 146 BC, it received municipal rights. …

The city of Genoa covers an area of 243 square kilometres (94 sq mi) between the Ligurian Sea and the Apennine Mountains. It stretches along the coast for about 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the neighbourhood of Voltri to Nervi, and for 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the coast to the north along the valleys Polcevera and Bisagno. The territory of Genoa is popularly divided into 5 main zones: the centre, the west, the east, the Polcevera and the Bisagno Valley. Although much of the city centre is at a low elevation, the territory surrounding it is mountainous, with undeveloped land usually in steep terrain. Genoa is adjacent to two popular Ligurian vacation spots: Camogli and Portofino. In the metropolitan area of Genoa lies Aveto Natural Regional Park. …