LucadeaLuca is the creator of this site. He travels the world for work and loves taking photographs and sharing them with all his visitors.

A quiet corner of Paolo Costa Square in Chiavari.
Just behind the main alleyways of Chiavari, in Liguria, a few steps away from the better-known streets, there are smaller and quieter corners such as this little square that I photographed quite some time ago. Paolo Costa Square caught my attention because of its intimate character, with buildings, narrow passages and everyday details coming together in a setting that feels very much part of the historic center.
I took this photograph during one of those walks when I was not necessarily looking for the most famous landmark or the most obvious viewpoint. I was more interested in finding a less immediate corner of Chiavari, one that could still convey the atmosphere of the smaller streets behind the main alleyways. When I walk through historic centers with a camera, it is often these modest squares that make me slow down.
When I think about what to see in Chiavari, the historic center, its arcades and its main streets naturally come to mind first. But once you enter the network of side alleys, the town offers many quieter perspectives. Paolo Costa Square is one of them. It is not a monumental urban space, but its smaller scale gives it a character that I find particularly interesting to photograph.
This is Chiavari, in Liguria, in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, Italy, and the square is located just behind the most recognizable part of the historic center. It takes only a small change of direction to leave the busier routes and find a more enclosed urban space that still feels very close to the heart of the town.
I took this photograph myself quite some time ago and, when I looked at it again, it brought back the feeling of walking through those streets. I do not remember trying to create a particularly elaborate composition. The view itself was enough to make me stop. I like photographs that happen this way, almost instinctively, because they often preserve more faithfully the way I experienced a place while walking through it.
One detail that particularly interests me is the name of the square itself. I have not been able to establish with certainty who the Paolo Costa remembered by the name was, and I would rather leave that question open than invent an explanation simply to fill the story. It is a small gap in my research, but also a curiosity that made me look at the place with a little more attention.
Whatever the origin of the name, it does not change the character of the square. Looking at the photograph, what remains with me is the arrangement of the buildings and the way the space opens between the surrounding alleys. It is quite different from the most familiar images associated with Chiavari, and that is precisely why I wanted to keep it in the blog.
One of the things I enjoy about Chiavari’s historic center is how quickly the atmosphere can change while walking. More open streets give way to narrower passages, arcades and closely spaced buildings, creating a sequence of different spaces. A small square like this can feel almost like a visual pause in the middle of that route.
For me, the value of this photograph lies mainly in that feeling of discovery. It was not taken in front of one of the city’s best-known landmarks, but in front of a corner that many people could easily pass without stopping. That is one of the reasons I enjoy photographing historic centers: I do not want to record only the obvious subjects, but also the quieter places that help define the everyday identity of a town.
Looking at the image again after all this time, I still think it is a useful way of showing Chiavari. Not because there is anything spectacular about the scene, but because it reveals a quieter side of the historic center. It is also why I continue to publish photographs taken at different times. Some images need to stay in my archive for a while before I find the right moment to share them.
This square naturally connects with other photographs I have already published on the site about Chiavari and its historic alleyways. Each image captures a different fragment of the same town, and together they create a route made not only of famous places but also of smaller corners such as this one.
If you are visiting Chiavari and wondering what to see, it is worth leaving the main streets for a few minutes and exploring some of the side alleys. You will not always find a monument, and you do not necessarily need to. Sometimes a small square with an interesting perspective is enough to change the way you experience a walk through a historic center.
For me, Paolo Costa Square has remained exactly that: a small corner I came across almost casually and found characteristic enough to photograph. And although I have not managed to discover who Paolo Costa was, perhaps that is a detail I will eventually be able to clarify.

Do you know the story behind the name of Paolo Costa Square in Chiavari? Add a comment or go to the bottom of the site to read what other visitors have written.

Photo taken with Gopro Hero 10 black.

Here’s where the square is located:

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