white clouds, fresh air and a restless sea’
…goes a famous song by Fabrizio De André, the most famous Ligurian songwriter,
by many considered a true modern poet.
These days, we Genoese celebrate De André because he passed about 20 years ago.
We do it without nostalgia, but with the knowledge that he is not dead in our culture because his songs, his stories and his Genova are immortal. His memory is alive in the Ligurian capital, especially in those alleyways, the famous caruggi, of the old town, which he, as every good Genoese, loved so much.
It is exciting to walk in those alleyways thinking about the indissoluble emotional bond between Genoa and Faber (as he was nicknamed) especially in Via del Campo street where, amid the confusion of people of every age and ethnicity and many shops of all kinds, one gets immediately immersed in a parallel world so fascinating and recalled with poetry by the Genoese singer-songwriter in many of his songs.
What surrounds you is a portion of the city that you do not expect and which voluntarily hides and then suddenly opens up in its splendor with the frescoes of noble palaces from the Renaissance. This part of Genoa is an area full of strong contrasts and at the same time characterized by a disarming simplicity.
Genoa’s caruggi (alleyways)
One of his songs goes:
‘In Via del Campo there is a girl
with dew-colored lips
gray eyes like the road
and flowers where she walks’
On this very street (Via del Campo), precisely at number 29, there is an altar now dedicated to De André.
There is a small house-museum where it is possible to learn more about him and about the music and traditions of other local artists who were and are close to him. Here it is also possible to find original vinyl records, images, books, vintage magazines, curiosities and even the legendary guitar which belonged to Fabrizio.
Following the porticoes of Sottoripa, a neighborhood in Genoa, ‘where the sun of the good God does not give its rays’ (as the artist said because the porticoes are always in the shade), we get to the tourist area of the Marina of Porto Antico (the old port marina), not far from the Aquarium of Genoa and the Galata Museo del Mare, where we find the old Spinola bridge. Here, the city has dedicated the promenade to the sea naming it after one of his songs, as evidence of this special bond and love between the artist and the sea.
De André promenade in Genoa
The soul of De André is also present just outside the city center in Sant'Ilario village, a place he mentioned in his song ‘Bocca di rosa’ (Rose mouth). It is a small perched village where you can enjoy a breathtaking view that is good for the heart and the spirit. Here one can find some ‘Crêuza de mä’ (also the title of one of his songs). The crêuza or crosa in Genoese dialect is a narrow brick road bounded by walls, easily recognizable all around Liguria and especially in Sant'Ilario and in the romantic fishing village of Boccadasse, a natural source of inspiration for many painters and artists, including the songwriter.
Remembering this artist is so important for Genoese people that the Association of Friends of Poetry organizes, under the patronage of the Liguria Region and the Municipality of Genoa, a monthly event dedicated to Fabrizio De Andrė and other poets, entitled ‘Poems.’
The main purpose of the event is to remember the works and remind to the new generations, the cultural heritage that Ligurian songwriters have spread in Liguria and in the world and, more generally, to propose a new way to stimulate people to the reading of poetry.
An intermezzo of poetry recitation is also organized at the Teatro Stabile, one of Genoa’s main theaters for the Arts.
Breathing the atmosphere and the beauty of all these places, having in mind and in the heart De Andrė songs, enables Genoese people and visitors alike to rediscover the city of Genoa with different eyes, halfway between poetry and reality.
