Description
The Lanterna is the lighthouse of the port of Genoa and the symbol of the city: a 77-metre stone tower on a rock, 117 metres above the sea counting the rock. It is the tallest lighthouse in the Mediterranean and one of the oldest in the world still in operation.
You reach it on foot along a promenade that starts from the Ferry Terminal and runs largely cantilevered outside the old walls, above the quays: a rare chance to see the port at work up close, among ships and containers.
The tower is made of two square sections stacked one on the other, each with a terrace at the top. Inside there are 365 steps: the first 172 are open to the public and lead to the first terrace, with views over the port and the city.
At the base, in the old fortifications, the Lanterna Museum tells the story of the lighthouse and of how signals are given at sea. In the gun rooms a Fresnel lens, similar to the lighthouse's own, sweeps its beam of light around.
A tower may have stood here as early as 1128. At the top, bundles of heather and broom were burned to signal arriving ships, and their owners paid a tax for that fire. From 1326 the light came from lamps burning olive oil.
In 1513 the Genoese, to drive out the French holed up at its foot, damaged it with bombard fire. It was rebuilt in 1543 as it looks today, and legend has it that its architect was thrown from the top so that he could never build another like it.
The keepers lived with their families inside the tower and had to keep the glass spotless. Among them, in 1449, was Antonio Colombo, Christopher's paternal uncle. As early as 1340 the coat of arms of the Commune of Genoa had been painted on the tower.
Lightning struck it for centuries: in 1481 a bolt killed a keeper, and in 1602 another destroyed the battlements of the upper tower. A lightning rod only arrived in 1778.
Don't miss
• The Lanterna promenade.
• The climb to the first terrace.
• The Lanterna Museum.
Did you know?
• Around 1400 the tower served as a prison for the King of Cyprus, James I of Lusignan: his wife gave birth to their son Janus there.
• It once had a little sister, the Torre dei Greci, at the other end of the port, where the Magazzini del Cotone stand today.
• At the top there is also a flashing red light, added to warn planes from the nearby airport.
You reach it on foot along a promenade that starts from the Ferry Terminal and runs largely cantilevered outside the old walls, above the quays: a rare chance to see the port at work up close, among ships and containers.
The tower is made of two square sections stacked one on the other, each with a terrace at the top. Inside there are 365 steps: the first 172 are open to the public and lead to the first terrace, with views over the port and the city.
At the base, in the old fortifications, the Lanterna Museum tells the story of the lighthouse and of how signals are given at sea. In the gun rooms a Fresnel lens, similar to the lighthouse's own, sweeps its beam of light around.
A tower may have stood here as early as 1128. At the top, bundles of heather and broom were burned to signal arriving ships, and their owners paid a tax for that fire. From 1326 the light came from lamps burning olive oil.
In 1513 the Genoese, to drive out the French holed up at its foot, damaged it with bombard fire. It was rebuilt in 1543 as it looks today, and legend has it that its architect was thrown from the top so that he could never build another like it.
The keepers lived with their families inside the tower and had to keep the glass spotless. Among them, in 1449, was Antonio Colombo, Christopher's paternal uncle. As early as 1340 the coat of arms of the Commune of Genoa had been painted on the tower.
Lightning struck it for centuries: in 1481 a bolt killed a keeper, and in 1602 another destroyed the battlements of the upper tower. A lightning rod only arrived in 1778.
Don't miss
• The Lanterna promenade.
• The climb to the first terrace.
• The Lanterna Museum.
Did you know?
• Around 1400 the tower served as a prison for the King of Cyprus, James I of Lusignan: his wife gave birth to their son Janus there.
• It once had a little sister, the Torre dei Greci, at the other end of the port, where the Magazzini del Cotone stand today.
• At the top there is also a flashing red light, added to warn planes from the nearby airport.