La Spezia 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 region, just after Genoa. Located roughly midway between Genoa and Pisa, on the Ligurian Sea, it is one of the main Italian military and commercial harbours and a major Italian Navy base. A significant railway junction, it is notable for its museums, for the Palio del Golfo rowing race, and for railway and boat links with the Cinque Terre.

Main sights include:

• Cristo Re dei Secoli, modern cathedral, consecrated in 1975, designed by Adalberto Libera.
• Abbey church of Santa Maria Assunta ("Our Lady of the Assumption", thirteenth century). It houses a considerable series of artworks, some of them originally from other suppressed religious institutes. They include an Incoronation of the Virgin by Andrea della Robbia, the Multiplication of Bread by Giovanni Battista Casoni and St. Bartholomew's Martyrdom by Luca Cambiaso.
• Santi Giovanni e Agostino. It has a single nave with eighteenth and nineteenth century decorations.
• Nostra Signora della Scorza. Built in 1900 in Piazza Brin, in the heart of what is now a working-class neighborhood, Quartiere Umbertino.
• Maria Ausiliatrice. Built in the second half of 20th century and administered by the order of Salesiani in the proletarian neighbourhood "Canaletto".
• Ubaldo Formentini - Civic Museum in the Castle of San Giorgio
• Amedeo Lia Museum
• Palazzina delle Arti and Museum of Seals
• Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (CAMeC)
• Diocesan Museum
• Ethnographic Civic Museum
• Technical Naval Museum
• National Transportation Museum
• Castle of San Giorgio, recently restored, probably originated from a watchtower. A first castle is known to have been built by Niccolò Fieschi in 1262. In 1273 it was destroyed by the Genoese, and a new fortification, along with a new line of walls, was erected by the podesteria of La Spezia from 1371. Annexed to this, the Republic of Genoa added a new castle starting from 1607.
• Art Nouveau-style villas
• Futurist mosaic by Prampolini inside the Post Office
• La Spezia is a point of departure for the villages of the Cinque Terre, either by train or boat. The boat also serves Lerici and Portovenere before turning into the open sea toward the Cinque Terre. The Cinque Terre villages are accessible by public transport, 15 kilometres (9 mi) from central railway station.