('''Spèsa''' in the local
Dialect of
Ligurian ) is a city in the
Liguria region of northern
Italy , at the head of
La Spezia Gulf , and capital city of the
Province Of La Spezia . It is one of the major Italian military and commercial harbours, located between
Genoa and
Pisa on the
Ligurian Sea . La Spezia also hosts one of the biggest
Military Industries of Italy,
OTO Melara .
It has no truly remarkable historic or
Architectural features, apart from the modern (''circa''
1960 )
Cristo Re Alla Spezia Cathedral and the
Lia Art Museum . The post office preserves some
Futurist mosaics by
Prampolini .
Although La Spezia, peculiar in Italy by being a modern city (almost all buildings date after
1920 ), has few attractions, its province includes beautiful places like
Lerici ,
Portovenere and the
Cinque Terre , all lying on the La Spezia Gulf, on the
Tyrrhenian Sea .
During the
Second World War , the city's port was used by the
Kriegsmarine as the main base for
U-boat s operating in the
Mediterranean Sea .
- Area of the commune: 51.39 km&2
- Population of the commune: 91,391 (2001 census)
- Geographic Coordinates :
- Area of the province: 882 km&2
- Population of the province: 215,935 (2001 census)
- Number of communes in the province: 32
