Leon Pancaldo

Leon Pancaldo was born in Savona in 1482, He participated with other Italians, the first voyage of circumnavigation around the world on the ship "Trinidad" as pilot under the command of Ferdinand Magellano.

In 1518, after the death of his parents, from whom he inherited the house with workshop in Via Scarzeria and a villa in Roviasca, the heights of Quiliano, Pancaldo went to Castile. Here he learned that the Portuguese Captain Ferdinand Magellan was organizing a two-year expedition to reach the Indies, finding the passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. Pancaldo returned to Savona and arranged all his affairs, so that he could participate freely in this enterprise. In the spring of 1519 he returned to Seville and, having presented himself at the local Casa de Contratacion, although already an experienced pilot, he was enlisted as a simple sailor on the "Trinidad", the flagship.

In his memory, in the following centuries, the savonesi decided to name the square overlooking the fourteenth-century tower of Quarda, the famous Torretta that still dominates the dock, and the city institute.

Also in Savona, in the district of Lavagnola, at the confluence between the Letimbro and the Lavanestro there is a second tower with villa, called "La Pancalda", which was home to the navigator in the 16th century. The building, originally equipped with a loggia no longer present, suffered a fire in 2010 and in 2012 was acquired by the National Alpine Association of Savona, which has renovated it and moved its headquarters.