- 2015.09.25
- Genoa, Local Hangouts and Dialect
Liguria’s narrow and long territory squeezed between the Apennine mountain range and the Mediterranean Sea makes it a paradise for hikers, climbers, swimmers and scuba divers alike.
Liguria is called the Italian Riviera and it has gained popularity for its top-notch seaside resorts such as Alassio and Portofino and also for its majestic picturesque villages around Cinque Terre but…
Where do the locals go?
Genova, or Genoa as it’s called in the Anglophone world, is a mid-size Italian city located in the Italian region called Liguria and it’s also its capital. The city, which is often overlooked by foreign tourists, is where the locals go to find entertainment and culture because it’s a thriving center for the arts and it’s where traditions are kept.
In the past Genoa’s busy port belonged to fishermen and sailors and used to be a dangerous and shady place but now it hosts a world famous Aquarium, an old galleon used as a museum and many restaurants and it has become a busy cruise ship hub for cruises bound to neighboring Mediterranean countries.
Genoa was named ‘the European capital of culture’ in 2004 and it has been flourishing ever since, attracting many people from all over the region and beyond, who wish to visit the city’s buzzing port, catch an opera or try excellent fresh seafood in one of its restaurants facing La Lanterna, a lighthouse dated 1543, which has become the city’s most cherished landmark.
I genovesi or Genoans are descendants of seafarers and explorers; the most well-known of them is without any doubt Cristoforo Colombo (Christopher Columbus) who was born in this city and who spent his boyhood in the region before discovering ‘new worlds.’ Genoans are proud to be the descendants of the great explorer and have dedicated a museum to his life, discoveries and travels.
When not busy at work or in school, Genoans like to spend time window shopping on Via XX Settembre, a mile long fashion street full of chic boutiques and bargain shops or at night they like to stroll down the caruggi, fairytale sized alleyways so incredibly narrow that sometimes only one person at the time can walk through them. It’s in the caruggi that you’ll find some local trattoria (typical inn), where to have traditional pesto sauce or try the local codfish fritters, frittelle.
But Genoans don’t call the city Genoa or Genova, they call it by its dialectal name, Zêna. The Genoan dialect has ancient origins and it has been classified as a language by the European Union because there are several publications in Genoan dialect including songs, poems and folktales. Unfortunately, the younger generations prefer to communicate in Italian and nowadays only 8% of Ligurians speak the local dialects fluently.
A few years ago the Regional Centre for dialects and traditions of Liguria opened up in Genoa. The structure, created by the Region Liguria in collaboration with the Department of Culture and various cultural associations, displays over 2000 volumes on the dialect, the local history, traditions, songs, rhymes, tales, dances, games and festivals and the center offers hundreds of recordings collected in almost half a century, filmed documents and television productions. The center welcomes the general public, local authorities and schools and its goal is to enhance the spoken dialects of the territory, to keep them alive and above all to make them known to the new generations.
