The Gulf of La Spezia (; ), nicknamed the Gulf of Poets (; ), is a body of water on the north-western coast of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and part of the northern

Tyrrhenian Sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (, ; or ) , , , , is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenians, Tyrrhenian people identified with the Etruscans of Italy. Geography The sea is bounded by the islands of C ...

, specifically of

Ligurian Sea The Ligurian Sea is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea. It lies between the Italian Riviera ( Liguria) and the island of Corsica. The sea is thought to have been named after the ancient Ligures people. Geography The sea borders Italy as far as ...

. It measures some 4.5 (length) by 3-3.5 (width) kilometers. The gulf is named for the Italian city of

La Spezia La Spezia (, or ; ; , in the local ) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second-largest city in the Liguria ...

, located at its middle point, which is also the main military and cargo port in the gulf, including several arsenals of the Italian

Marina Militare The Italian Navy (; abbreviated as MM) is one of the four branches of Italian Armed Forces and was formed in 1946 from what remained of the '' Regia Marina'' (Royal Navy) after World War II. , the Italian Navy had a strength of 30,923 active pe ...

. At the gulf extremities are the two tourist resorts of Lerici (eastern) and

Porto Venere Porto Venere (; until 1991 ''Portovenere''; ) is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) located on the Ligurian coast of Italy in the province of La Spezia. It comprises the three villages of Fezzano, Le Grazie and Porto Venere, and the three islan ...

(western). Islands in the gulf include Palmaria, Tino, and Tinetto. The

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

poet and dramatist

Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was an English writer who is considered one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame durin ...

drowned in the Gulf in 1822 when the sailing boat he was on, the ''Don Juan'', sank due to a severe storm. A copy of poems by fellow British Romantic writer John Keats was found in his pocket when his body was recovered from the Gulf.Carey, pg 123

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* Gulfs of Italy Gulfs of the Mediterranean Gulf of La Spezia Gulf of La Spezia {{Liguria-geo-stub