Albenga (Ligurian: Arbenga;[3] Latin: Albingaunum) is a city and comune situated on the Gulf of Genoa on the Italian Riviera in the Province of Savona in Liguria, northern Italy.

The name of Albenga comes from the Latin Albíngaunum that comes from Album Ingaunum, that it means the capital city + genitive plural in -um.

During the Second Punic War the town of Albenga was allied with the Carthaginians, but was defeated by the Romans under proconsul Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus in 181 BC.

In the meantime the intense exploitation of the flat land around the city continued; an inscription records the restoration of the walls, forum, and harbor, by Constantius in A.D.

The city was listed among the coastal civitates downsized to villages (vici) by Rothari, king of the Lombards, as documented by Fredegar in the 660s.

Later on, after the invasion of northern Italy by emperor Frederick Barbarossa, the city supported him and joined to Ghibelline coalition which was never abandoned during the following centuries.

In 1798 Albenga was declared capital of the Centa Jurisdiction, as part of the short living constitution of the Ligurian Republic.

In 1815 the city, together with the whole Liguria, was assigned to the House of Savoy (the Italian Royal family) and became part of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

In this time Albenga was reduced to an agricultural village, overtaken by other coastal towns in both economic and demographic development.

Up to the 17th century, Albenga based its economy on maritime trade, as the city was built on the mouth of the river Centa and it was surrounded by walls and bridges.

Christian cleric and saint Martin of Tours is believed to have once lived on the island, where a monastery now stands in his honor.

In contrast, the Albenga plain's countryside exhibits more continental characteristics, with colder winters and hotter summers than the coastal area.

Built on the ancient orthogonal structure that had the current "Via Medaglie d'oro" and "Via Enrico d'Aste" respectively as the Roman camp main road axes (cardo and decumanus), the town has its planimetric hub in the historical San Michele Square.

Built on the basic structures of the early Christian basilica put up by orders of Constantius III between the 4th and 5th century, it has a façade with traces of the transformation from Romanesque to Gothic.

The baptistery is located to the side of the cathedral, as it was typical of the early Christian structures, and can be visited from the Loggia of the old City Hall Palace.

During those works, the original basin vaulted roof, built with the Byzantine-Ravennate technique of the "tubi fittili" (terracotta tubes), was completely destroyed.

The Diocesan Museum of Albenga occupies a series of rooms decorated with frescoes, it houses works of art and findings from the excavation of the cathedral.

Restructured by Emperor Augustus in 13 BC, the Via Julia Augusta was the most important communication link in the Italian Riviera until the construction of the Napoleonic situated close to the sea; the current site of the Via Aurelia.

Its path, with plenty of Roman buildings destined to funerary celebrations, makes an archaeological walk beautiful also from a panoramic and naturalistic point of view.

The coast of Albenga has a length of some 4 km (2.48 miles) of fine sand mixed with pebbles, with bathing establishments.

The city is crossed by main road, built over the past centuries, which connects with the close Piedmont region.