Italy Guide
Liguria
The Porto Antico
Genoa's ancient port, or Porto Antico was pedestrianized and revitalized during the 1990s. Old warehouses have been converted into exhibition spaces, concert halls and museums, and cafés and pricey waterside bistros front the marina.
The visual centrepiece of the development is the Bigo – a curious multi-armed contraption, designed by Renzo Piano, intended to recall the harbourside cranes of old. It consists of a tent-roofed exhibition/concert space where waterside performances are given in summer and an ice-skating rink is set up in winter, next to which stands a circular elevator that ascends 60m in the air to let visitors see Genoa "as it is seen by the seagulls".