Genoa, the Italian Riviera, and a Palm Tree

genoa travel poster

I was skeptical about the palm tree on the Genoa travel poster and whether it could actually grow in a city that far north.

Riva Ligure in the Italian Riviera by AudreyH

What I hadn’t realized is that Genoa is on the shores of Mediterranean — specifically, the Italian Riviera. This coastal region in Liguria also includes towns like Portofino and the Cinque Terre, and it has a climate warm enough to support palm trees, agaves, and sun-seeking tourists.

La Riviera Italienne Travel Poster

In fact, the Italian Riviera  was already a tourist destination in 1884, when Claude Monet visited and painted scenes like the Palm Trees at Bordighera.

Claude Monet's Palm Trees at Bordighera

Now if the word “riviera” initially made you picture a river (same here), you weren’t completely wrong. The Italian word rivièra can actually refer to the shores of a river, lake, or, in this case, a sea.

North Italy map

Because there’s an Italian Riviera, English speakers called the Mediterranean coast on France’s side of the border the “French Riviera,” borrowing the Italian word again. Apparently, there’s also a (much) lesser-known English Riviera, which seems like a tourism-bureau invention.

And, yes, in Italy, you can just call the Italian Riviera the “Riviera.”

Alassio, Italy by Martina Pathogens.


Photos via:

Detail from: Palm Trees at Bordighera


I’ll be linking up with Thursday Tree Love at Happiness and Food.

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