… The Port of La Spezia, indeed all the Gulf, is one of the most wonderful things to be found in Italy… going up towards the bottom of the Gulf from Portovenere, there is a gulf called The Castagna; then a tip of land, where a fort is; then a Gulf, which is the Varignano harbor, wonderful… Charles De Montesquieu (Viaggio in Italia 1728). Throughout history many poets and writers were enchanted by the beauty of the places and atmospheres that the “Gulf of the Poets” inevitably arouses. This is the reason why this Gulf has been renamed the “Gulf of the Poets”: Dante, Byron, Montesquieu, Shelley, Wagner, D’Annunzio, Hemingway, Montale and Soldati are just some of the masters who have left testimony of the charm inspired by these territories. Like in a hug the Gulf is bordered to the west by Portovenere and to the East by Lerici, ancient hamlets rich in history, art and natural beauty. La Spezia is well known mainly because of the Passeggiata Morin, where the ferries to Portovenere (the starting point for the 3 islands tour: Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto), the “Palmaria Island” and the “Cinque Terre” depart, the “Thaon de Revel” bridge that connects the “Passeggiata Morin” to “Porto Mirabello”, Piazza Verdi with its “Portali di Buren” and the “Post Office Palace”, the Historical Gardens or “il Boschetto” the “Boschetto” with its “Palco della Musica”, a liberty jewel, Via Chiodo with its decorated arcades, the Teatro Civico, designed by Franco Oliva, Via del Prione with the access, either by lift or numerous stairways to San Giorgio Castle, perched on the area called “Poggio”, also home to the “Civic Archaelogical Collections” and the famous “Statue Stele”, Sant’Agostino square with its “Castiglione Countess’ Bust”, the Market Square, that is the beating heart of La Spezia, the Music Conservatory “Giacomo Puccini” with its beautiful windows, the “Amedeo Lia Museum” with its paintings, miniatures, sculptures and art objects, the Palazzina of the Arts with the “Seal Museum”, the “Etnographic and the Diocesan Museums”, the “National Transport Museum” and the “Museum of Contemporary Art CAMeC”, the “Festa della Marineria”, every two years along “Molo Italia” and the “Palio del Golfo”, which takes place on the first Sunday every year along the Morin Promenade.