Sampierdarena is a major port and industrial area of Genoa

Genoa

Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

, in northwest Italy. With San Teodoro it forms the West Central (Centro Ovest) municipio

Municipio

Municipio and Município are terms used for country subdivisions. They are often translated as municipality.-Overview:...

.

Geography

Sampierdarena lies on the coast about 4 km west of the centre of Genoa. In 2000 the population was 67,741.

History

Sampierdarena was an ancient fishing village, named after the church of San Pietro d'Arena ("St Peter of the Sands"). During the Renaissance it became a residential area, with great palaces being built such as the Palazzo Spinola and the Palazzo Scassi, both probably built by Galeazzo Alessi

Galeazzo Alessi

Galeazzo Alessi was an Italian architect from Perugia, known throughout Europe for his distinctive style based on his enthusiasm for ancient architecture. He studied drawing for civil and military architecture under the direction of Giovanni Battista Caporali.For a number of years he lived in Genoa...

 (1512–72). After the coming of the railways it became one of the great industrial centres of Italy. Gio. Ansaldo & C.

Gio. Ansaldo & C.

Ansaldo was one of Italy's oldest and most important engineering companies, existing for 140 years from 1853 to 1993.-From foundation to World War I:...

 was one of the leading companies of the area involved in shipbuilding and armaments, before it was finally taken over by Finmeccanica

Finmeccanica

Finmeccanica S.p.A. is an Italian conglomerate. Finmeccanica is the second largest industrial group and the largest of the hi-tech industrial groups based in Italy. It works in the fields of defence, aerospace, security, automation, transport and energy...

 in 1993.

In 1926 the comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

of Sampierdarena was absorbed by Greater Genoa, becoming in 1969 a delegazione, and in 1978 a circoscrizione of the city.