Castello di San Giorgio

Above the rooftops of La Spezia, the Castello di San Giorgio crowns the Poggio hill with seven centuries of military engineering, from its fourteenth-century keep to gunpowder-era ramparts, and now shelters the city's archaeological museum behind its Genoese walls.

Why it matters

The fortress occupies a prominent position on Colle del Poggio, overlooking La Spezia’s historic centre, the Gulf of La Spezia and the Apuan Alps. The fortress records changes in military architecture: its lower body, added in the fifteenth century, was designed for firearms. Following restoration begun in 1985, the castle became home to the civic archaeological collections, including material from eastern Liguria.

What to notice

The entrance portal carries the coat of arms of the Republic of Genoa and a bas-relief of St George fighting the dragon, the iconography that gives the castle its name. On the upper level, the oldest fabric survives in the foundations of the keep tower and the north-facing defensive walls pierced by archers' slits, together with a stretch of the ancient town wall that was later cut through by Via XX Settembre. The lower body, added in 1443, has thickened surfaces and openings calculated for firearms rather than bows. The castle's dark interior walls are used deliberately as a backdrop for the archaeological displays — marble statuary and funerary monuments from Roman Luni stand out sharply against them. The terrace overlooks the city and gulf.

Context and history

The earliest documented building phases reach back at least to the second half of the fourteenth century. In 1443 the fortress was enlarged with the lower body, expressly planned for the use of firearms — a response to the military revolution of the age. Renovation of the upper section began in 1554, and in 1607 the Republic of Genoa, fearing a Spanish counteroffensive across the gulf, strengthened the castle into the form it keeps today. The entrance portal still displays Genoa's emblem beside the St George relief. After a long period of abandonment, restoration began in 1985 with support from the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and the municipality. The work adapted the site for the archaeological museum and cultural events.