Noli (; lij, Nöi ) is a coast ''
comune'' of
Liguria,
Italy, in the
Province of Savona
The province of Savona ( it, provincia di Savona; Ligurian: ''provinsa de Sann-a'') is a province in the Liguria region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Savona, which has a population of 61,219 inhabitants. The province has a total populatio ...
, it is about southwest of
Genoa by rail, about above sea-level. The origin of the name may come from ''Neapolis'', meaning "new city" in Greek.
From 1192 to 1797 Noli was one of the
maritime republics, the
Republic of Noli.
Geography
The bounding communes of Noli are
Finale Ligure,
Spotorno
Spotorno ( lij, Spoturnu) is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about southwest of Savona. Today the town is an important holiday center of Riviera delle ...
and
Vezzi Portio.
History
The name ''Noli'', testified in the form ''Naboli'' in the oldest documents (between 1004 and 1005), certainly derives from a form of which means "new city" in
Byzantine Greek
Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the Ottoman co ...
(same etymology as for ''
Naples'').
The
Republic of Noli was an independent republic from 1193 until 1797. In 1239 it became seat of a bishop; later on the diocese was united with that of Savona as the
Diocese of Savona-Noli. The Napoleonic invasion in 1797 put an end to Noli's sovereignty.
Main sights
* Romanesque basilica of S. Paragorio (11th century)
* Household and annexed Tower (14th-15th century)
*
San Paragorio (5th–6th century)
* Tower and Gate Papone (13th-14th centuries)
* Tower of Four Sides.
*
Nemo's Garden (Noli)
Twin towns — sister cities
Noli is
twinned
Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to:
* In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so;
* Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning
* Twinning inst ...
with:
*
Langenargen, Germany (2005)
Personalities
*
António de Noli, Italian nobleman and explorer, discoverer of some Guinea territories and Cape Verde islands on behalf of the
Portuguese crown. Born in
Genoa 1419, "family with origins in Noli or the Castle of Noli".
[According to Della Cella manuscripts "Perittissimo piloto Genovese"; on the family "l’origine si puo supponere dalla piccola Città o Castello di Noli”. Della Cella, "Famiglie Di Genova. Antiche, e moderne, estinte, e viventi, nobili, e populari". Parte II, D.E.F.G.I.L.M.N.O./ MDCCLXXXIII. Page 293]
References
*
External links
Photographs of Noli
{{authority control
Cities and towns in Liguria
Maritime republics