The bond between Genoa and Galata in Il Sole 24 Ore

Laura Leonelli's piece of 3 February 2013 opens with Edmondo De Amicis reaching Constantinople in the fog of a morning in 1877, then turns to Galata, the city the Genoese built. Its news lies nearer: in Beyoğlu, steps from the tower of 1348, Istanbul and Genoa had just been twinned.

The occasion was Stefano Goldberg's photographic exhibition «Genova: uno sguardo incantato», open until 23 February in the hall the article names only as "the central Sanat Galerisi", and supported by the city of Genoa, Ansaldo Energia and Turkish Airlines. Gianluca Alberini, Italy's Consul General in Istanbul, observes that this is in truth no news at all: the tie between Genoa and Istanbul has never been broken. In Galata the Italian cultural institute, the Italian chamber of commerce, the Italian hospital, the schools, the churches and the Società Operaia founded by Garibaldi still stand side by side.

My own name appears at the close: the building renamed Casa Garibaldi was to be given over, once the restoration I direct was complete, to the keeping of that Italian memory in this city. A small philological aside: the paper sets the district as "Beyogvlu" and strips the Turkish letter from my surname. Istanbul's names always lose a little of their way on a foreign composing desk.