Today, the hill is gone save for a small rise upon which the lighthouse stands; the rest of it was removed to provide infill for other areas of the city.

[1] At the time it sat close to the main coastal road, called the Via di Francia, which more recent documents describe as passing between it and the sea.

Dried pieces of erica and juniper wood were used to fuel the signal fire in its early years; for upkeep, navigators who used the port were expected to pay a tax upon their approach to the city.

[1] In 1528, when Genoa was under French military occupation, the Genoese admiral Andrea Doria attacked the harbor with thirteen galeas, regaining control of the city.

The lighthouse tower was reconstructed in the current Renaissance style by the Doge Andrea Centurione Pietrasanta in 1543, with the financial support from the Bank of Saint George.

It was modified up until the end of the century in order to increase its capability; the entire lighthouse was modernised again in 1913,[1] but the electrification was poorly done, and had to be refitted in 1936.

[4] One last major restoration project, begun after American and British air attacks of World War II, was completed in 1956.

[8] Adjacent to the tower is the Museo della Lanterna, which may be reached by a walk from the old city walls to the foot of the beacon at the via Milano.

In 1602 lightning demolished a part of the crenellation on the top tower, and in 1603 another strike, again on the same tower, hit a decorative marble tablet with the text Jesus Christus rex venit in pace et Deus Homo factus est[10](Jesus Christ king came in peace, and God became Man).

At one time the lighthouse worked in tandem with a smaller tower, posted at the other end of the harbor where the cotton warehouses in the Porto Antico now stand.