Description
The Scalinate of La Spezia are more than twenty historic stairways climbing from the centre to the hills behind the gulf: a way, on foot and a little tiring, to discover the city from above and its less-trodden corners.
The oldest follow the ancient paths that fanned out uphill towards the Poggio from the old town gathered between the Castle of San Giorgio, Piazza Sant'Agostino and Piazza Beverini. Among them is the climb to the castle, beside the former convent of the Poor Clares.
The others were born with the new Arsenal city, between the 19th and 20th centuries, together with the new hillside roads (Via dei Colli, built in 1890 as a military road, Via XX Settembre and Via XXVII Marzo), to link the lower town with the districts on the heights. The Spallanzani stairway and the Fondega stairway belong to this family.
Many of the stairways are named after an event or a figure from the city's history: reading the plaques is already a little history lesson.
The oldest follow the ancient paths that fanned out uphill towards the Poggio from the old town gathered between the Castle of San Giorgio, Piazza Sant'Agostino and Piazza Beverini. Among them is the climb to the castle, beside the former convent of the Poor Clares.
The others were born with the new Arsenal city, between the 19th and 20th centuries, together with the new hillside roads (Via dei Colli, built in 1890 as a military road, Via XX Settembre and Via XXVII Marzo), to link the lower town with the districts on the heights. The Spallanzani stairway and the Fondega stairway belong to this family.
Many of the stairways are named after an event or a figure from the city's history: reading the plaques is already a little history lesson.