Bogliasco is situated on the southeastern city limits of Genoa in northern Italy. The capital of the Liguria region and one of the most important cities in Italy, Genoa is a university town with important cultural resources. From Bogliasco, the central part of the city can be reached by bus or train in twenty to thirty minutes. The Genoa international airport, a thirty-minute automobile ride from the Study Center, currently has connections to and from Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan (Malpensa), Munich, Rome and Paris. A complete, modern medical facility, the San Martino Hospital Center, is located fifteen minutes from the Center.
The history of Bogliasco can be traced back to the Roman Empire: a medieval bridge constructed on Roman ruins still spans a rivulet that feeds into the port. Once a village inhabited primarily by fishermen, sailors, and sea captains, Bogliasco frequently allied itself with the Republic of Genoa, but always remained independent of it.
Now a quiet town of five thousand inhabitants, Bogliasco has most of the characteristics of a typical Mediterranean village: a central piazza dominated by the church, a scenic walkway above the sea, a small port filled with fishing boats, and several rocky beach areas.
Bogliasco is hardly a major stopping point on the Italian tourist loop; nonetheless, it has had its share of interesting visitors. In 1905-1906, the Russian composer Alexander Skryabin lived in Bogliasco with his companion Tatyana Schloezer. While there, he completed a large part of one of his major works, Le poème de l'extase. Tatyana described Bogliasco as "a paradise on Earth, with orange trees, cypresses, and cactuses."
