Liguria - Seafaring Region

The isolated coastline of Liguria has been open to marauding Saracens, Normans or pirates arriving by sea since the 5th century BCE, when the Ligurian people first arrived to give the region its name. By the Middle Ages, the port of Genoa dominated all of Liguria and had become a powerful maritime republic, in many ways stronger than its rivals in Pisa and Venice. Eventually, Genoa faltered and lost most of its power, and Liguria was annexed by Napoleon and given to the House of Savoy. This loss of independence inspired patriots such as Mazzini and Garibaldi to start the Italian Risorgimento, which in turn led to the establishmentof the modern nation of Italy.