Municipi di Genova Centro Est - Centro Ovest

What ACES distinguished in 2016 was not the whole of Genoa, but its heart: the two central municipalities of the Ligurian city, Municipio I Centro Est and Municipio II Centro Ovest, which together total 158,474 inhabitants. In them is concentrated the Genoese old town, one of the largest continuous medieval centres in Europe, a labyrinth of alleys — the caruggi — that descends to the Porto Antico. That core preserves the memory of the maritime republic: the ensemble of Le Strade Nuove and the Palazzi dei Rolli, with 42 palaces inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 2006. To the west, Municipio II adds Genoa's other face, that of the port and the working-class districts of Sampierdarena.

In these streets Italian organised football was born. Genoa Cricket and Football Club, founded on 7 September 1893 in the city's British consulate, is the oldest active club in Italy and was the first national champion, in 1898, with nine League titles in its historic honours. Together with Sampdoria it shares the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, although the venue stands in the district of Marassi, already outside the two central municipalities of this community. The density of historic clubs and the weight of the port make the Genoese centre a sporting as much as a maritime cradle.

In 2016, ACES Europe recognised the two central municipalities as European Community of Sport, a category reserved for territories that bring together several entities around sport. The title precedes by almost a decade the one the whole city would receive — Genoa was European Capital of Sport 2024 — and confirms Italy as one of the largest presences in the ACES network.