Genoa City Map Poster

About Genoa

The Genoa area has been inhabited since the fifth or fourth millennium BC. In ancient times this area was inhabited by Ligures, Phoenicians and Etruscans. The city cemetery, dating from the 6th and 5th centuries BC, testifies to their presence; it is also where they placed their tombs back home in Sardinia.In Roman times the town was known as "Genua", probably a derivation of the Greek name given to it by its Etruscan founders: Τενέδαι (Ténedai). It is mentioned for first time in history in Pliny's Natural History (77–79 AD): The most widely accepted theory among scholars holds that "Genua" derives from these Greek roots meaning 'a body of water' or 'to establish'.