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Large wall hanging from an old lithograph representing the port of Genoa

(Italy, 21st c.)
Magos Foundation Collection

In the Middle Ages, Genoa was one of the four Italian maritime republics and became the most powerful for several centuries following the Crusades. In 1279, Emir Mohammad II of Granada signed a commercial agreement with the Republic of Genoa. The port in particular experienced two peaks, first from 1284 to 1381, militarily and politically, then from 1550 to 1630, financially this time. In the 14th century, the Republic of Genoa had a real maritime empire in the Mediterranean and Black Seas.