SPEZIA, a city of Italy, in the province of Genoa, 56 miles south-east of Genoa by the railway to Pisa, which has become since the unification of the kingdom one of the principal Italian ports and the seat of a great Government arsenal. It is situated at the north-west angle of the Gulf of Spezia, formerly known as Lunae Portus, the western side of which is formed by a rocky promontory about 4 miles long, terminating in the picturesque little town of Portovenere and the islands of Palmaria and Tino. A great breakwater, constructed about 1860, stretches across the gulf from Santa Maria Point to Santa Teresa Point for a distance of 7220 feet; and the outer harbour to the south-west of the town, excavated in 1865 to a depth of 32 feet, has an area of 247 acres. The arsenal has a length of 3937 feet and an average breadth of 2460 feet. The first dock covers an area of 20 acres and the second 17 acres; and there are besides two careening basins, 433 and 354 feet long. Farther south lie the extensive military establishments of San Vito, with storehouses, reservoir, &c.; and almost right opposite, on the other side of the gulf, are the dock (1 ½ acres), shipbuilding yards, and repairing docks of San Bartolomeo. Some of the largest vessels of the Italian navy have been constructed at Spezia. As a commercial centre Spezia suffers from the lack of railway communication with the interior,—the range of the Apennines lying between it and the more productive regions of Northern Italy. The whole movement of the port in 1884 was represented by 38 vessels engaged in foreign trade (tonnage, 29,251) and 1333 engaged in the coasting trade (tonnage, 198,447). Though the town itself, with the barracks and military hospital as its principal buildings, presents little to attract the foreign ...