Spezia

Spezia, the principal naval port of Italy, stands near the head of a deep and commodious bay on the west side of the peninsula, 56 miles S.E. of Genoa by rail. It was Napoleon I. who first recognised the suitability of this bay for the purposes to which the Italians, instigated thereto by Cavour, have now put it. An artificial break-water (built in 1860), 2400 feet long, covers the entrance; whilst formidable batteries of the heaviest artillery (supplemented by torpedo appliances) bristle on the hills that overlook the bay and on the island of Palmaria that guards its entrance. Here the Italians have constructed the great national arsenal, and build their large warships, and have their ship-repairing yards and docks, and their naval victualling yards, storehouses, and so forth. Some of these, however, are at San Bartolomeo, on the opposite shore of the bay. There are also in the town large barracks, a military hospital, schools of navigation, an iron-foundry, and manufactures of cables, sail-cloth, and white-lead. The adjacent country produces excellent olive-oil. The beauty of the bay and the lovely climate cause Spezia to be much frequented as a seaside resort. It was on the shores of this bay that Shelley spent the last few months of his life, while at the town of Spezia Charles Lever was consul for ten years. Pop. (1861) 6105; (1881) 19,864; (1895, estimated) 23,500.