Sopraelevata Aldo Moro at Porto Antico, Genoa – Elevated Urban Highway and Waterfront

The Sopraelevata Aldo Moro is one of Genoa’s most distinctive pieces of twentieth-century transport infrastructure, carrying a major urban road above the waterfront and through the historic port district. This photograph looks along the pedestrian waterfront of Porto Antico, with the elevated roadway sweeping diagonally through the composition above the public space. Tall palm trees line the promenade on the left, while Genoa’s densely developed hills rise in the background beneath a dramatic Mediterranean sky. The image captures the striking juxtaposition between large-scale transport infrastructure and the regenerated public realm of the city’s historic harbour.

Officially known as the Strada Aldo Moro, the elevated road is commonly called the Sopraelevata, meaning “elevated road”. It forms an important east-west connection through Genoa, linking the western side of the city and the Genova Ovest motorway interchange with the Foce district near the exhibition centre. Its central section passes alongside the Porto Antico, where the road is elevated above the former port edge. The route is approximately 4.5 kilometres in its main elevated section, with additional access and exit ramps extending its overall road system.

The project was developed in response to the rapid growth of road traffic in Genoa during the post-war period. The Italian Ministry of Culture’s architectural census records the infrastructure as dating from 1959–1965 and identifies Fabrizio De Miranda, Cesare Fera, Luciano Grossi Bianchi, Ernesto Pitto and Giulio Romano among its principal authors. Construction began in 1964, with the elevated structure officially inaugurated in 1965.

Structurally, the Sopraelevata is an expression of mid-twentieth-century transport engineering. Its roadway is carried by a series of large structural supports, with steel elements forming the principal elevated system. The long, continuous deck produces a powerful horizontal line across the city, while the repeated columns beneath it create a rhythmic structural pattern. In this photograph, the underside of the deck is particularly prominent, revealing the engineering character of the infrastructure and the way it occupies the space immediately beside the waterfront.

The road has always been a controversial element of Genoa’s urban landscape. Its construction required the demolition of approximately 300,000 cubic metres of buildings, including historic structures, and created a physical barrier between parts of the historic city and the sea. The Italian Ministry of Culture describes the elevated road as an intervention that significantly altered the relationship between Genoa and its waterfront, while also acknowledging its importance to the city’s transport network.

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