Genua is asteroid #485 and also known as 1902 HZ. Genua’s orbit is characterized by a semi-major axis of 2.75 Astronomical Units, an eccentricity of 0.19, a period of revolution of 1 666 days, and an inclination of 13.9 degrees. Genua was discovered by the Italian astronomer Luigi Carnera at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory, where he was an assistant of the German astronomer Max Wolf.

Genua is named after Genoa, Liguria, Italy. The name of the city is Genova in Italian and Zêna in Ligurian, a nowadays seldom spoken Gallo-Romance dialect group in the north of Italy. The city’s name is Gênes in French and this is the origin of the word jeans, the denotation of a material originally coming from Genoa. The city’s name is Genua in Latin. The same as the name of the asteroid. But genua also is the Latin word for knees (singular: genu), so the city’s name is widely believed to be derived from the shape of its coastline. Genoa is located on the Gulf of Genoa in the Ligurian Sea and has historically belonged to the most important ports in the Mediterranean region. On a map easily found by connecting the big islands Sardinia and Corsica and expanding this line to the north of Italy. Genoa currently is the busiest port in Italy and the twelfth-busiest in the European Union. Genoa also is the center and the capital city of the Liguria Region. Genoa gets by Italians epithets like la dominante or la superba (“the proud”). The adjective Genoese is ianuensis in Latin hence the city’s name also is thought to be derived from the Roman god Janus, who has two faces, because the city would face the sea and face the mountains. The Genoese culture and mentality differs from that from the people living in the mountains. Though the latter are Italians, too, the Genoese people get better along with people from other sea ports. Yet I prefer the theory that the origin of the city’s name is its Etruscan name Kainua, which means new town, because this is the only theory, which at least is supported by an inscription. Ancient authors didn’t mention this city often. Although archeologists found at least a Greek cemetery, Greeks didn’t write about Genoa. Carthaginians destroyed the city in 216 B.C. and Romans rebuilt the city in 209 B.C. This is what the Romans reported. Although the port certainly existed much earlier, already because it is a natural port and hence a great place for a port city.

Genoa during the Middle Ages was an ally of Pisa and a rival of Venice. But Pisa turned from an ally also into a rival and the two cities were at war until Pisa got defeated in the Battle of Meloria in 1284, which was the biggest naval battle of the Middle Ages. Yet Genoa didn’t have a big military fleet like Venice. Genoa rather supported other fleets with transport ships and also by the transfer of technology. Genoese fleets transported the crusaders of the early crusades, while Venice took over this role for the late crusades. From then on did Genoa already lose relevance. Genoa was repeatedly at war versus France and occasionally also versus Austria. In 1656/ 1657, the Naples Plague killed more than half of the inhabitants of Genoa and weakened several Italian cities. French forces from then on were more powerful. The Republic of Genoa turned into the Ligurian Republic, which existed from 1797 until 1805 and was dependent from France. But in 1805, France nevertheless annexed Genoa. After Napoleon was defeated, the Republic of Genoa existed again for almost a year, yet the Congress of Vienna confirmed a former secret treaty, which made Genoa a part of the Kingdom of Sardinia. The people of Genoa revolted in 1848, but Genoa stayed in the Kingdom of Sardinia, which became in 1861 the Kingdom of Italy and in 1946 became the modern Italian Republic, still with Genoa a part of it.

So Genua is a place name asteroid, that hints to Genoa, Liguria, Italy and its history as the Republic of Genoa. The asteroid Genua presides over pride and represents jeans. Genua is a counter-active force to the astrological force Venetia. Genua perhaps also represents knees.