The Port of Savona: Two Thousand Years of History and a Green Future

A city that exists because its port exists

Savona without its port wouldn't be Savona. This isn't a metaphor: the city was born around its natural harbor, grew thanks to the commercial traffic that passed through it, suffered when the port suffered, and is reinventing itself by following the path it is charting. To understand Savona—its history, its identity, its future—we must start here: from this body of water that for two thousand years has gazed out toward the Mediterranean.

The origins: from Rome to the Middle Ages

The hub of the urban economy is the port, which has allowed the city to perform important commercial functions since its origins. As early as Roman times, the port of Savona was a transit point for goods and passengers along the Ligurian coast. In the Middle Ages, the port of Savona became one of the main ports in the western Mediterranean—important enough to be coveted by Genoa, which in 1528 decided to permanently silence it, filling in the harbor basin and building the Priamar Fortress on the promontory overlooking it.

The Industrial Twentieth Century: the Cableway and Coal

Eighteen kilometers of steel above the mountains

Since the early decades of the 20th century, the port has been served by an 18-kilometer cableway, built to transport coal across the mountain divide. An extraordinary feat of engineering for its time: coal gondolas silently flew above the woods and villages of the hinterland, connecting the port with Piedmont's industries. The former cableways remain one of the most recognizable visual symbols of Savona's waterfront—and the new masterplan for the waterfront has included them as a historical landmark to be enhanced in the urban redevelopment.

Oil specialization

In the 1960s, the convergence of large flows of various goods traffic into the nearby port of Genoa forced Savona to specialize in the unloading of certain products, particularly petroleum. This forced choice was the result of competition with the Genoese giant, which shaped the industrial landscape of the Savona coast for decades.

The tourist turning point: the cruise port

Subsequently, the port of Savona underwent a series of transformations that gradually relocated its industrial port activities to the Vado Ligure area. Meanwhile, the port itself, with its infrastructure completely renovated, has strengthened its touristic vocation, focusing primarily on passenger traffic and becoming, as the terminus of the Costa Crociere company, one of Italy's most important cruise ports.

Today, the port of Savona is one of the busiest cruise ports in the Mediterranean, with thousands of passengers boarding and disembarking large ships every week in the heart of the city—just steps from the Priamar, the historic center, and the Torre del Brandale.

The Masterplan: reconnecting the port to the city

Twenty million for the eastern seafront

The Masterplan represents the organic design of a strategic portion that is the gateway to the city, but also a symbol of an industrial and port past that later became a degraded area. This design could symbolize the revitalization of the city and its port.

The stated goal is ambitious: to optimize port-city interaction by ensuring the development and sustainability of port activities and the enhancement of the area, to create new public spaces, to connect the city and the sea by bringing residents back into contact with the water, and to enhance history by integrating the new waterfront with existing historical landmarks, from the Torretta to the former cable car site.

The port-city alliance

The Masterplan seals the alliance between the port and the city, which must form the backbone of Savona's development—a concept that marks a significant cultural shift: the port is no longer seen as an industrial area separated from city life, but as a shared, open space connected to the urban fabric.

The Green Future: Smart Grids and Green Hydrogen

Smart Grid completed in 2026

Work on the integrated Smart Grid energy system has been completed, fully in line with the PNRR schedule, which expires on June 30, 2026. This project, which aims to make port activities increasingly sustainable through energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources, is part of the "Green Ports" project. This concrete achievement, funded by the PNRR, positions the port of Savona among the most advanced in Italy in the energy transition.

Photovoltaics and green hydrogen

Among the initiatives and prospects related to energy transition and environmental sustainability are the installation of photovoltaic systems in port areas and ongoing projects to develop innovative solutions, such as the production of green hydrogen in ports.

The new Port Master Plan

The major challenge of sustainable development will also concern the new Port Master Plan, which defines the port's future over the next 30 years. This challenge must be met through broad-based collaboration with the local community. The Province of Savona has demonstrated its ability to work collaboratively, transforming a complex crisis into an opportunity for development, from the coast to the hinterland.

The port as a tourist experience

For visitors to Savona, the port is more than just infrastructure: it's landscape, history, and a privileged vantage point. The Vecchia Darsena —now redeveloped with restaurants, bars, and tourist boats—is the liveliest spot on the waterfront, just steps from the historic center and the Priamar. The Molo Marinai d'Italia , where whale-watching tours depart, is where cruise ships slowly glide out into the open Mediterranean every morning—a free, silent spectacle that alone is worth a morning in the city.