Savona
Italy
The Italian city of Savona lies directly on the sea.
Bild: Stadt SavonaSavona is the capital of the province of the same name and one of the most important port cities in Italy with a population of about 60,000 inhabitants. It is located about 45 km west of Genoa on the Ligurian Riviera and is the third largest city in Liguria. The original center of the town was in Priamar, a fortress by the sea. Already from the end of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the city-state of Savona was an important trading power. The margraves of Savona took part in the First Crusade and several popes had their house power here.
Savona lives from fishing, olive groves, fruit and vegetable growing, trade and crafts (the Albisola ceramic workshops and the glassworks in Alttare are famous), the port and sea trade. The port is, for example, an important landing stage for trips to Corsica and also an important location for ships that carry out Mediterranean cruises. Furthermore, from Savona the shipping of the car brands Fiat and Lancia is handled.
Only little industry is to be found: Steel production and wood processing as well as power generation. Today's modern town center is located north of the fortress, one of the main attractions of the city. Besides Priamar, other places of interest are the Bandale Tower, the medieval palazzi, the Cathedral of Santa Maria and the Pinacoteca.
The traditional Ligurian cuisine is a simple rural cuisine, very healthy and digestible. Well known are for example focaccia (flat bread with olive oil, salt and herbs), farinata (pan cake with chickpea flour) or pesto alla genovese.
More about the town twinning:
The first personal relations between citizens of the two towns of Savona and Villingen-Schwenningen were established as early as May 1982 by members of the German-Italian Society Villingen-Schwenningen (DIG). These contacts led to the foundation of the Associazione Culturale Italo-Tedesca di Savona (ACIT) in Savona.
In the following years, both associations tried to bring together the citizens of both cities through organized meetings.
These contacts increased, so that in the past years already many hundred citizens from Villingen-Schwenningen found their way to Savona. Conversely, many Savonesi also regularly came to Villingen-Schwenningen for a variety of events.
The numerous and constantly growing connections finally led to the local parliaments agreeing to an official town twinning. The twinning documents were signed in Savona in October 1988 and in Villingen-Schwenningen in September 1989. Since then, there have been and still are club contacts in the cultural, educational and sports areas. Especially the 3rd district in Savona and the district of Obereschach maintain intensive contacts. In 1999, the conference of all German-Italian twin towns took place in Villingen-Schwenningen (previously already twice in Savona). In addition, several municipal exchanges on the environment, renewable energies and culture have already taken place. The German-Italian Society Villingen-Schwenningen and the Istituto di Culturale Italo-Tedesco in Savona support this town twinning significantly.