Page 35 - Mellinato, Giulio, and Aleksander Panjek. Eds. 2022. Complex Gateways. Labour and Urban History of Maritime Port Cities: The Northern Adriaticin a Comparative Perspective. Koper: University of Primorska Press.
P. 35
Assistance to Ships and Cargo Handling in the Early Modern Port of Genoa
duction, and the hinterland, as well as to foster highly profitable re-ex-
port flows.
The port of Genoa, examined in this analysis, belongs to the lat-
ter category, together with Venice, Marseille, and Barcelona in the
Mediterranean area, and Bruges, Antwerp, Amsterdam, and Gdansk in
Northern Europe. These cities were hubs of extensive traffic networks
that would increasingly expand in the modern age, due to the above-men-
tioned population growth and the opening of new oceanic routes. Together
with the consolidation of the large nation states and the subsequent im-
plementation of mercantilist policies, these factors significantly impact-
ed European maritime trade, with its main routes shifting towards the
Atlantic coast. However, even if the Mediterranean was losing centrali-
ty, this process did not lead to the decline of its ports, which would part-
ly change their role within the continental merchant network. More gen-
erally, despite lower traffic volumes than northern European ports, they
still benefitted from an overall traffic increase. In order to cope with such
changes, these large ports dealt with and handled traffic volumes that
kept growing during the modern age by progressively building new infra-
structures and storage areas. In many instances, this process had a sig-
nificant impact on urban planning. Conversely, in others, the areas used
for port activities – piers, quays, shipyards, storage warehouses, light
towers, and signal lights – would develop independently of the city. In
other words, the development of a port, and specifically of a large port/
commercial hub, did not always generate a proper port city, i.e. it did not
always bring about far-reaching changes in the urban fabric. In this case
in particular, it would be more suitable to speak about a ‘city with a port’
rather than a port city (Poleggi 1989, 7–9; Piccinno 2017, 159–60). Further,
from a population and employment point of view, large ports attracted
not only merchants and businessmen looking for business opportunities,
but also skilled and unskilled workers – captains, sailors, shipwrights,
and porters. All these trends were independent of any immigration-pro-
moting policies that might have been implemented by the respective gov-
ernments (Piccinno and Zanini 2019, 283).
Throughout the above-described process, some unique features can
be observed in the Genoese case. From a city planning point of view, its
harbour, with its piers and quays, warehouses and ship repair facilities is
bordered by the Ripa, a long line of buildings and palaces all along its pe-
rimeter, forming a barrier to the inhabited centre behind it. Although
35
duction, and the hinterland, as well as to foster highly profitable re-ex-
port flows.
The port of Genoa, examined in this analysis, belongs to the lat-
ter category, together with Venice, Marseille, and Barcelona in the
Mediterranean area, and Bruges, Antwerp, Amsterdam, and Gdansk in
Northern Europe. These cities were hubs of extensive traffic networks
that would increasingly expand in the modern age, due to the above-men-
tioned population growth and the opening of new oceanic routes. Together
with the consolidation of the large nation states and the subsequent im-
plementation of mercantilist policies, these factors significantly impact-
ed European maritime trade, with its main routes shifting towards the
Atlantic coast. However, even if the Mediterranean was losing centrali-
ty, this process did not lead to the decline of its ports, which would part-
ly change their role within the continental merchant network. More gen-
erally, despite lower traffic volumes than northern European ports, they
still benefitted from an overall traffic increase. In order to cope with such
changes, these large ports dealt with and handled traffic volumes that
kept growing during the modern age by progressively building new infra-
structures and storage areas. In many instances, this process had a sig-
nificant impact on urban planning. Conversely, in others, the areas used
for port activities – piers, quays, shipyards, storage warehouses, light
towers, and signal lights – would develop independently of the city. In
other words, the development of a port, and specifically of a large port/
commercial hub, did not always generate a proper port city, i.e. it did not
always bring about far-reaching changes in the urban fabric. In this case
in particular, it would be more suitable to speak about a ‘city with a port’
rather than a port city (Poleggi 1989, 7–9; Piccinno 2017, 159–60). Further,
from a population and employment point of view, large ports attracted
not only merchants and businessmen looking for business opportunities,
but also skilled and unskilled workers – captains, sailors, shipwrights,
and porters. All these trends were independent of any immigration-pro-
moting policies that might have been implemented by the respective gov-
ernments (Piccinno and Zanini 2019, 283).
Throughout the above-described process, some unique features can
be observed in the Genoese case. From a city planning point of view, its
harbour, with its piers and quays, warehouses and ship repair facilities is
bordered by the Ripa, a long line of buildings and palaces all along its pe-
rimeter, forming a barrier to the inhabited centre behind it. Although
35
