Savona Italy is is a seaport in the northern Italian region of Liguria, capital of the Province of Savona, in the Riviera di Ponente on the Mediterranean Sea and a place we stopped while sailing with Costa Cruises.  Docking right in the heart of Savona, 92,700 Costa Luminosa was hard to miss from a variety of angles, as we see in this photo gallery.  It was a sharp contrast between yesterday and today as 2009’s Costa Luminosa dwarfed Savona structures dating back to the 1400’s and earlier.  

Home to Christopher Columbus, one of the most celebrated former inhabitants of Savona who farmed land in the area while chronicling his journeys, Savona is also home to one of the two Sistine Chapels in the world; the other in Rome. The Savonese Cappella Sistina has been renovated in the Rococo style. also present in other areas of the city,  with ornate decorations, golden curlicues and a ceiling painted by Paolo Geralamo Brusco.  

Arriving at dawn, Costa Luminosa made her way to the center of town, passing hillside homes and structures including a few medieval towers. A short walk from where the ship docked is the ancient La Torretta clocktower at the end of Via Paleocapa by the harbour. It was part of an old defense structure difficult not to notice along with a number of other towers lining the skyline.  The tower is thought of by the locals as the symbol of Savona, appropriately positioned at the entrance to the harbor.  Also hard to miss are the towers of le Torri del Brandale, in the heart of the old town.

See more Savona photos in our A Day In Savona Facebook Photo Album

Here is more about Savona, Italy: