Identity: the arsenal city and the thirteen villages of the Gulf of Poets
La Spezia's identity was born with the arsenal: in 1853 Cavour moved the Sardinian navy's arsenal here from Genoa and the walled town of about 3,000 people became a naval base. The other soul are the thirteen seafaring villages of the Gulf of Poets, which race each other in the Palio del Golfo, the main event of the Festa del Mare, on the first Sunday of August.
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The arsenal city
Modern La Spezia was born with the arsenal: in 1853 Count Cavour moved the Kingdom of Sardinia's naval arsenal from Genoa to La Spezia, turning a walled town of about 3,000 people into a major naval base. The arsenal's construction also reshaped the gulf: the village of Marola, for instance, lost its natural San Vito landing. Napoleon had already seen in the gulf — which he reportedly called "the most beautiful in the universe" — the site for a military port.
The villages and the Palio del Golfo
The city's other soul are the thirteen seafaring villages of the Gulf of Poets, a name tied to the poets Byron and Shelley who stayed here: every year, on the first Sunday of August, the villages race each other by oar in the Palio del Golfo, the main event of La Spezia's Festa del Mare.
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Updated: 2026-10-20
Updated: 2026-10-20
Reviewed: 10/23/2026 · by piero.avolio · rev. 1 · Period: → 2027-10-31
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