A Creuza for Beginners

Long before cars, motorcycles, buses and cablecars, the only means the Genovesi had of going up and down the mountainside was on foot, along a narrow, sometimes winding, often impossibly steep kind of path or alley referred to, in the local dialect, as creuza.

When you first arrive here, or in any of the villages along the coast, discovering where each one leads, and taking on the challenge of climbing one, is part of the fun in getting to know your new surroundings. Most start at the coast and make their way far up, almost to the top of the mountainside. They are the frustrated foreigner's ideal outlet for letting off steam and just getting your mind off things for a while.

The most common desing of a creuza is a narrow red brick strip or stairway (the length of the stairs usually an awkward just too long for a single step and just too short for two), with two equally narrow strips of pebbles set in cement on either side, although this is by no means a standard.

An ideal introduction to this concept, for someone visiting the city and who does not have as much time to "blow off steam", could be the salita alla Spianata di Castelletto: starting from Piazza della Meridiana (Meridiana means sundial, and Palazzo della Meridiana, which has just recently been refurbished, has one on its façade), it takes no more than ten minutes, walking relatively slowly so you can take it all in, to reach Spianata Castelletto. Castelletto is a suburb just above the city centre and the spianata ends in a panoramic terrace, called Belvedere Montaldo, litterally hanging over the old city.

From here you can see far off to the East, you can try and identify the various sites you have visited throughout the day, and far off to the West the view includes the city's beloved Lanterna, the historical lighthouse and symbol of the city.

Castelletto is a rather wealthy neighbourhood, and considering the views it is easy to see why. If you go up there in the late afternoon you will probably be in the company of numerous small dogs on their evening walk.

As I mentioned in the title, this is an introduction for beginners, and you should not be out of breath or particularly tired at this point, but if you don't feel like walking back down, there is a municipal elevator (ascensore in Italian), which will take you back down to the city centre for just 80 cents, or with an ordinary bus ticket. Of course, the elevator will bring you up here as well, but then you would have missed out on the fun part...