One of the most celebrated former inhabitants of Savona was the navigator Christopher Columbus, who farmed land in the area while chronicling his journeys.

[citation needed] 'Columbus's house', a cottage situated in the Savona hills, lay between vegetable crops and fruit trees.

[citation needed] Inhabited in ancient times by Ligures tribes, it came under Roman influence in c. 180 BC, after the Punic wars in which the city had been allied to Carthage.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it passed under Lombard rule in 641 AD (being destroyed in the attack), after a short period as an Ostrogoth and then Byzantine possession.

Savona was the center of religious culture (13th to 16th centuries) due to the work of two important monasteries: Dominican and Franciscan.

In 1809 the city received Pope Pius VII, prisoner of Napoleon Bonaparte, for a few years.

In the coldest months: January, February and December, the average temperature is 11 °C (52 °F) during the day and 5 °C (41 °F) at night.

Rari Nantes Savona is an aquatic sports club, mainly known for its professional men's water polo team, which competes uninterruptedly in the Serie A1, the top division of Italian championship, since 1982; the team has been national champion for three times.