Rapallo

Rapallo is a municipality in the province of Genoa, in Liguria, northern Italy. As of 2007 it counts approximately 34,000 inhabitants, it is part of the Tigullio Gulf and is located in between Portofino and Chiavari.
The climate is moderate and the main part of town is on fairly level land. Many of the villas are built in the hills that rise immediately behind the city to protect them from strong northern winds.
Rapallo area is included in the Parco Naturale Regionale di Portofino, encompassing the territory of six communes.
The first settlement dates probably from the 8th century BC, although the findings have not clarified if it was Etruscan or Greek.
Conquered by the Lombards in 643, the village of Rapallo was included in the county of Genoa under Charlemagne. The name of the city appears for the first time in a document from 964. In 1203 the Podestà of Rapallo was created, which in 1229 it became a Genoese dominion, remaining under that aegis until the Napoleonic Wars. Galleys from Rapallo took part to the famous Battle of Meloria of 1284. On September 5, 1494, it was captured by the Aragonese, but three days later 2,500 Swiss troops ousted them.