High School "Lorenzo Costa"


Liceo classico Lorenzo Costa, located in Palazzo Umbertino,  is one of the oldest schools in La Spezia

Founded under Napoleonic rule, it later became Royal high school named after the poet and latin scholar Lorenzo Costa. On may 23rd 1923 the Liceo classico Costa was inaugurated by his Majesty King Vittorio Emanuele III.

Liceo Classico Costa, a coeducational secondary school,   offers pupils aged 14/19 an academic education specializing in classical  studies.

The school has about 600 students and 50  teachers.

It offers four areas of studies with a common selection of subjects: Italian language and literature, Latin, ancient Greek, History and Philosophy, Art history, English language and literature, Mathematics, physics, Science and P.E.

The traditional curriculum has been recently (school year 2016/2017 after an eleven-year-old   previous experience with music) enriched with a music/ art/ and drama branch, a mathematics branch, and an “international” one where 2 modern languages (Spanish or German ) are taught.

There are several extracurricular activities:

Foreign language courses held by native speakers and organized for students who want to improve their skills in foreign languages other than English (French, Spanish, German, Chinese, Russian) , or need specific work for Cambridge exams preparation

Drama class . Every year the drama club sets up a performance based on classical works (link)

School newspaper: AGORA'(link)

School Radio station: Radio jeans network (link)

Photography workshops

Philosophy courses

Psychology courses

Sports activities

Week of Classics : when former Liceo Classico students (now university professors, scholars, actors, musicians and artists) are back as teachers for students and the whole town.

The school has an ancient and important library which is open to the citizenry, laboratories, a gymnasium, and it is the headquarters of the Società Italiana di Filosofia (Italian Society of Philosophy), Associazione Italiana di Cultura Classica ( Italian associations of Classics) and many more.

School twinning: Liceo Classico Costa has had a project of twinning cooperation with Gymnasium Christian- Ernestinum, Bayreuth Germany for two years now. (link) Every year students (usually second and third form) spend 1 week in Bayreuth staying with host families. The hospitality is   returned  in April.  (link)

Liceo Classico Lorenzo Costa, thanks to its strategic   location, is open every day (from Monday to Saturday) from 8am to 7 pm to students and local associations ( for example AIDEIA Italian association for adult education) for conferenences, meetings, workshops.