Typical historic shops in Genoa

Genoa succeeded in preserving the charm of its typical historic shops as only few other Italian cities managed to do, making them an essential part of its tourist attraction. Shopping in malls around the world always provides the same experience while making a tour of these shops in the typical Genoese narrow streets (caruggi, in Genoese dialect) and small squares can be a special and unique experience.

Since 2011 the Genoese Superintendence, Municipality, Chamber of Commerce and trade unions of merchants and artisans started working together in order to defend this exclusive feature and to hand it down to the next generations. These institutions have promoted and supervised the “Albo delle Botteghe storiche” (professional register) for the first time in Italy. The small shops appearing in this register have a leading role in this website, where you can find useful information, pictures, peculiarities, old and new stories.

Find out where these shops are and how to reach them, by customising your tour to discover colours, tastes and fragrances of the Genoese old city centre.

How to become a certified historic shop

To enrol in the register of “botteghe storiche”, a shop must have been operating for 70 years and have at least three of the five essential elements established by the Superintendence: architectural elements, furniture, equipment, documents and environmental historical context.

The shop has to submit the application to the Chamber of Commerce, which prepares the procedure and then addresses it to the attention of the Superintendence, which provides the inspection. Afterwards, a Commission composed of members of the Municipality, Chamber of Commerce, Superintendence and trade unions of merchants and artisans (ASCOM Confcommercio, Confesercenti, Confartigianato e CNA) will examine the results.