The two itineraries suggested in this section offers a short but significant visit to the old city of Genova, which can be accomplished in a single day. Itinerary "A" corresponds to the part of the city comprised within the 9th-century wall, while Itinerary "B" concerns the belt between that old settlement and the perimeter of the 12th-century wall.
Itinerary "A" starts at the centre of town, Piazza Dante, along Vico Dritto di Ponticello, a slope leading to the old eastern gateway to town, Porta Soprana. The door, in its monumental shape, was built up in 1155-57 on the vestiges of the 9th-century wall and has been restored several times since the end of the last century. Among the many houses which stood along the way, only Columbus' house has survived. The house was rebuilt during the 18th century on the ruins of a former building owned by the navigator's father. In the garden behind the house was established the cloister (12th century) that was part of the destroyed monastery of S. Andrea.
After crossing the Soprana gateway take a left. Via Ravecca follows the inner path of the medieval wall and leads to piazza Sarzano. The narrow and lengthened shape of this square is overlooked by the bell-tower of the auditorium of S. Agostino (13th century), formerly a church, its spire is covered with multi-colored majolica tiles. The square is faced also by the modern Museum of Ligurian Sculpture.
Turning left into via Ravasco, and then again to the left, we go up a brick stairway until we reach the path that runs on the top of the walls called "di Barbarossa" (1155). From here you'll enjoy a view of the modern buildings of via Madre di Dio and of the 18th-century Carignano bridge; in the background stands the Basilica dell'Assunta, a magnificent work by Galeazzo Alessi (16th century) which deserves a visit for the high architectural quality of its interior.
Return to piazza Sarzano: on the left, at the very top of the Castello hill, there is the new seat of the Faculty of Architecture. The pre-Roman fortified town was built just in this area, where the Bishop's mansion and two important convent buildings were later erected.
At the bottom of the square, after a short walk along via S. Croce, you enter via S. Maria di Castello passing a big vault on the right. Proceed up to the part of the city where there are still signs of the 2nd world war bombing, on the right, the little square of S. Maria in Passione, delimited by buildings presenting visible medieval features. The slope continues downward alongside S. Maria di Castello, the main church of the Castrum, i.e. the oldest settlement of the city. Since the 15th century the building has been inhabited by the Domenicani monks, who have enriched it with three cloisters, the largest presenting overlapping and partly frescoed loggias. The interior of the church has a severe Romanic frame with a nave and two aisles.
Walking down the stairway next to the tall Torre degli Embriaci (12th century), one of the few surviving towers of the old city, you reach Piazza Embriaci. The square is overlooked by the 16th-century palace of Giulio Sale. Opposite, the ruins of a Lombard-style painted front, with architectural subjects (dated to the beginning of the 16th century). Vico S. Biagio leads into via S. Bernardo, a centre line of the civitas, that is the first town-expansion down the Castello hill. Beautiful portals, again in Lombard style, at no. 16r. (15th century) and, on the left, at no. 12 of the nearby Piazza Grillo Cattaneo; here, like in the palace of Giulio Sale, the facing low walls formed the boundary of the private zone of a curia, site of a medieval family nucleus.
Taking Vico Dietro il Coro del S. Cosimo, go alongside the apse and the side of SS. Cosma e Damiano, a church whose stone parts still reveal the original Romanic frame (11 th century); the portal on the facade is made with salvages of a Roman architrave. In front of it, a narrow alley leads into via delle Grazie. With a turning of about 500 metres from your itinerary you'll reach Piazza Cavour, and beyond it the quartiere del molo ('pier quarter'). The quarter was built up in connection with the oldest quay of the port, and it was built downstream by the 16th-century Porta Siberia, and designed by Galeazzo Alessi (who also designed the Basilica of Carignano).
On the right-hand side, via delle Grazie leads into Piazza Cattaneo; the 17th-century palace shows a precious staircase and a pre-existing medieval frame. You then reach Piazza S. Giorgio, lined by two churches: one of them is dedicated to S. Giorgio, former patron of the town, and has ancient origins (first mentioned in 964); the other one, S. Torpete church, is still the patrician church of the Cattaneo family. In this square the first city market operated (11th century), in the area between the port inlet and via Giustiniani, a center line running in parallel with via S. Bernardo and going into the civitas.
Proceeding towards the north straight on via Canneto il Curto you see on the right the little Piazza Stella, where the traces of a medieval porch are visible. From here, along Vico del Sale, you reach Piazza Sauli, presenting beautiful marble portals: the one at no.23, is particularly remarkable for its candelabra subjects (end of the 15th century). On the facade of the building no.7, a painted decoration is shown by the falling of large parts of plaster; the decoration is similar to the one already seen in Piazza Embriaci.
Walk along Vico Sauli and turn left into via Canneto il Lungo in order to return to via Canneto il Curto, which is farther interrupted by the straight stretch of via S. Lorenzo. The widening of via S. Lorenzo during the last century caused a sudden interruption in the medieval street network. After crossing this street, keep straight on via Canneto il Curto until you get into Piazza Cinque Lampadi, situated at the northern boundary of the 9th-century wall. Nearby stood the S. Pietro gateway and, beyond it, just outside the wall, the market of Banchi (see Itinerary "B"). Flanking the left side of the porch owned by the De Martini family ( 13th century) along Vico delle Scuole Pie and then crossing another medieval porch owned by the Cicala family (presenting Roman salvages in columns and capitals), we reach Piazza Scuole Pie, a rectangular area of the second half of the 16th century, now bordered by the 18th-century facades of the Scolopi church and of Elena and Cicala palaces. In front of the church, Vico del Filo leads into Piazza S. Lorenzo, created during the 19th century - just like the street - to give more room to the facade of the cathedral.
The church was originally included within the 9th-century wall; it was rebuilt in Romanic shape at the beginning of the 12th century and was again modified a century later. The magnificent portals belong to that period: they show influence of the early French Gothic style and they are adorned with polychrome marbles, sheafs of little columns and figured reliefs. The black-and-white pattern spreads over the upper rows of the facade; these rows belong to different periods, the belltower being completed by 1522. Inside, the columns (rebuilt at the beginning of the 14th century) present the same two-colored pattern; the barrel vaults of the aisles, the dome, the transept and apses zone - richly adorned, date back to the 16th century.
On the left aisle, near the entry of the Museum of the Treasure, the three-arched marble Cappella del Battista ("St John the Baptist's Chapel") is still visible; this is one of the most important issues of the 15th-century culture owed to the Lombard sculptors Domenico and Elia Gagini, who featured it by a complex series of reliefs.
Going along via S. Lorenzo, on the right side of the cathedral you'll reach the S. Gottardo portal, dating earlier than the facade as once it was part of the Romanic church. A little farther, on the other side of the road, Vico Nostra Signora del Soccorso leads into the medieval street network. Crossing via Canneto il Lungo - which keeps a definite commercial function - (at no. 67 a medieval walled-up porch) we enter Piazza Valoria, a 16th-century area conceived in connection to the coeval Palazzo Peirano, with its prospect painted with portraits of soldiers and emperors.
Via Valoria takes you into via Giustiniani, the centre of the civitas: walking towards Piazza S. Giorgio we reach Piazza Giustiniani, surrounded by buildings which have been restored during the 18th century.
Missing plaster from the minor prospect corresponding to no. 6 shows the underlying black-and-white pattern.
In the opposite direction, via Chiabrera leads into via S. Bernardo, where you will find a walled-up porch supported by black and white pillars (no. 18), in the next little square stands the Salvago palace (no. 26) presenting a beatiful 16th-century portal surmounted by statues of savages that refer to the name of the family who owned the house.
Via S. Bernardo takes you into Piazza Ferretto and then into Piazza S. Donato. The Church of S. Donato was built up and enlarged during the 12th century. Its facade has been deeply modified by the 19th-century restorations.
The interior - framed like a basilica - presents salvages of Roman columns next to the presbytery, and medieval capitals near the entrance (that is the area involved by the enlargements quoted above). Getting out from the right side of the church (where Stradone S. Agostino goes up to Piazza Sarzano) you can see the beautiful octagonal tower presenting a row of mullioned windows and a row of windows with three lights (the third row being due to the 19th-century restoration).
Going back to via S. Bernardo, take via S. Donato towards Piazza delle Erbe, through a scenery still heavily marked by the 2nd world war bombs. Vico delle Erbe leads up into Piazza Matteotti; the square is overlooked by the broad neoclassical facade of the Palazzo Ducale ("Ducal Palace", 18th century), a complex architectural body designed by the end of the 16th century. The side parts were formerly connected by a wall curtain which was demolished in the last century to create a monumental public area strictly related to the tracing of via S. Lorenzo.
Towards via S. Lorenzo, beyond the Palazzo Arcivescovile ("Archiepiscopal Palace"), stands out the 16th-century dome of the cathedral; the facade of the Chiesa del Gesù ("Jesuits'Church") opens to the right side of the Ducal palace. Between the church and the wing of the Ducal palace, we can see the 19th-century theatre Carlo Felice located in Piazza De Ferrari. This theatre has been recently restored. The urban scenery is crowned on its right side by the towers of the Soprana gateway and the skyscrapers of Piazza Dante.
Before entering Piazza De Ferrari, the Jesuits' Church mentioned above is worth a visit. It is also dedicated to S. Ambrogio: this fact reveals a former medieval construction partly issued by a Milanese colony settled in the area then known as "Brolio". The interior is rich in frescoes, it is characterized by a magnificent multi-colored marble coating running from the floor to the pillars and to the side chapels.
The second itinerary starts from Piazza De Ferrari, in the part extending towards the west, characterized by a secondary view of the Ducal palace and by the neoclassical facade of the Banco di Roma building. You get back to the compact medieval street network going down along salita S. Matteo to get to the homonymous church. The facade of the church overlooks a slightly leaning "square-churchyard" resulted from the 12th-century town planning arrangement that surrounded its regular shape with the residences of the Doria faction. For a long time the Doria family had settled outside the 9th-century wall, along the route connecting the gate of Serravalle (nearby what is now Salita Arcivescovado) with the old outer layout of the strata of Roman origins (via della Maddalena - Vico dei Garibaldi).
The prospects of the buildings, featured by the partly walled-up porches, present, at the lower floor, the same black-and-white pattern shown by the whole facade of the church. The corner between the church and the Branca Doria house gives way into the 14th-century cloister; opposite, the 15th-century palace - donated by the Senate to Andrea Doria in 1528 - presents architectural and ornamental features of a late Gothic taste.
Via S. Matteo leads into Piazza Campetto. The magnificent prospect of the Palazzo di Gio Vincenzo Imperiale, embellished by frescoes and stuccoes was conceived as a background to the 16th-century shape of via Scurreria, that widens to the left towards the cathedral. This side of the square is also overlooked by some painted facades. Campetto takes you farther to the little square of Soziglia. By taking it on the left towards via Orefici you will discover what was the main 13th-century city route: the town was then developing within the 1155 wall so that its center moved west.
Along the road, medieval houses - like the one at no. 47, presents on its 15th-century door the Adoration of the Magi - alternates with other possibilities due to the 16th-century modernization of this area (at no.7 the portal of the Lercari palace).
Via Orefici leads into Piazza Banchi, once a corn market and - since the 13th century - trade center of the money-changers. The square is overlooked by the new Loggia dei Mercanti ("Merchants' Loggia", end of the 16th century) and by the painted facade of the Serra palace (17th century). The late 16th-century church of S. Pietro in Banchi stands on a terrace whose ground floor is still occupied by a series of shops.
Going down along via al Ponte Reale you enter Piazza Caricamento, overlooked by the Palazzo delle Compere di S. Giorgio. The building is set up on two architectural foundations: the older one (13th century) was discovered by an early 19th-century restoration, the newer one (16th century) spreads towards the sea and shows recently restored painted facades.
The square is bordered by the Porticato della Ripa, a porch whose building began in 1133 and that was once directly facing the sea. Its original commercial function was re-established by a late 19th-century restoration (contemporary to the restoration of S. Giorgio palace).
Returning to piazza Banchi, take a the left on via S. Luca, the northern stretch of a long carrugio dritto ("straight alley"; also via Canneto il Curto is part of it, see itinerary "A") leading from the civitas to the district of S. Siro. 16th-century buildings here have replaced most medieval houses, like in via Orefici, the little square named after the Chiesa di S. Luca was destroyed by the Spinola family during the 12th century and rebuilt during the 17th century (the stucco decoration on the facade is well worth seeing). Flanking the left side of the building turn, again on the left, into Piazza di Pellicceria. The square is overlooked by the 18th-century facade of the palazzo Spinola. Located there is the Galleria Nazionale, a well kept example of an "historic" Genoese residence, with frescoed decorations fittings and paintings.
Vico del Pelo takes you into via della Maddalena a "ring road" of Roman origins that, once included within the town-wall, became the main route of a craftmen's quarter. With a short walk you reach on the right via Posta Vecchia (at no.16, is a 15th-century portal), leading into the beautiful little square, which was the center of the De Franchi family. The square replaced, by the 2nd half of the 16th century, a partly demolished medieval building.
Straight on via delle Vigne you reach the square bordered by the neat Renaissance project of Domenico Grillo's palace; on the left the 19th-century facade of Nostra Signora delle Vigne. Although the church was completely transformed between 16th and 17th centuries, on its left side is partly visible the medieval decoration, the beautiful Romanic bell-tower (12th-century) stands up on a big arch crossing the alley.
Going beyond the entry of the cloister (12th century now inhabited) to the left and under the bell-tower, you reach on the right Vico Dietro il Coro delle Vigne, which takes you into Piazza Soziglia. A few meters farther, an important junction: on the left, via Macelli di Soziglia; on the right, via Luccoli. Turning right into via Luccoli you reach the large arcade of the second block, a later walled-up porch which was originally connected to via Macelli. A little farther, you get to no.26, whose atrium and stair-well present a 16th-century coating made with enamelled tiles in a Hispano-Moresque style.
Via Luccoli leads into Piazza Fontane Marose, whose previous appearance has been completely changed by several restorations. Also the black and white facade of the Jacopo Spinola palace is mostly due to 19th-century restorations.
Between the buildings Spinola and Negrone, salita S. Caterina would deserve a short deviation. This road was the way out across the main door of the 12th-century town-wall; the door was pulled down by the 19th-century transformations carried out within this area. Here, the 16th-century front of the Tommaso Spinola palace stands out for its polished stucco decorations (no.3), a little farther, the atrium of the coeval Spinola Costa palace (no.4) is adorned with a fountain and a staircase with loggias. Leaving on the right Piazza Rovere, the slope leads into largo E. Lanfranco that stands on the 19th-century roads' axis (via Roma - Piazza Corvetto). The Palazzo Doria Spinola (16th century), nowadays center of the Prefecture, presents outside some remains of a great frescoed decoration inside, a beautiful courtyard with double-row loggias.
At the bottom of Piazza Fontane Marose turn left into via Garibaldi, once named Strada Nuova ("New Street"): it was then the main road of a wealthy quarter built up in the 2nd half of the 16th century. It grew up after some demolitions in a plotted marginal area of the walled town, at the foot of Castelletto hill. These buildings were commissioned by the great financiers' families and today they testify to the high level of a Renaissance updating which can be meant also as a longing for status-symbols. So, the importance and the beauty of this street - widely known in Europe since the early 17th century - lie in its overall value and in its inventory of functional and ornamental solutions.
The painted facade of the Palazzo di Angelo Giovanni Spinola (no. 5, Banca d'America e d'ltalia) and, nearby, the stucco facade of the Palazzo Podesta (no. 7) are also remarkable. A beautiful nimphaeum is enclosed by the courtyard of the Podesta palace. If you go on, you reach the articulate front of the Palazzo Doria Tursi on the right, today site of the Town Hall. At the end of the street stands the Palazzo Bianco and the Palazzo Rosso. The two buildings were donated to the town by the Brignole-Sale family at the end of the last century. Inside, two important Galleries house a collection of samples of the local artistic cultures between 15th and 18th centuries.
Piazza della Meridiana ("Sun-dial square") leads into via Cairoli, a curvilinear street created towards the end of the 18th century amid the medieval street network. We turn then left into via S. Siro.
The church was rebuilt in the last quarter of the 16th century and richly decorated during the following century. It was formerly dedicated to the Twelve Apostles and has medieval origins: its existence was first known in the 4th century; it was a cathedral until the 9th-century wall erection, when the Church of S. Lorenzo was given this title. After turning into a benedectine abbey, S. Siro became the heart of the Borgo that was later enclosed within the 12th-century wall and occupied by the old mercantile noble families. The large 14th-century porch (no. 2) that ends the long block facing via S. Luca was owned by the Centurione family.
Turning right, go down along via Fossatello into the square, restored between 16th and 17th centuries; straight on via del Campo, in proximity to the gateway of the Vacca, was the northern end of the 12th-century city wall. Then turn right into via Lomellini, a street of medieval origins once leading to the gateway of S.Agnese, demolished during the last century. The street is overlooked by 18th-century fronts like the one presented by the Durazzo Pallavicini palace (no. 8). Farther along are the church, the oratory and the convent of S. Filippo Neri, a complex built by the Pallavicini family testifying the late spreading - between 17th and 18th centuries - of the Roman baroque culture. Going along via Bensa you reach on the left Piazza della Nunziata. On one hand it is overlooked by the wide facade of the 16th-century Belimbau palace, restored during the following two centuries; on the other, by the presence of the Chiesa dei Minori. The church was erected in its present shape between the 16th and 17th centuries. Its interior presents a basilica frame with columns of the oldest local tradition, and it is richly adorned with frescoes and golden stuccoes in a late-manner style.
The itinerary can be extended by the two parallel routes of via Pré and via Balbi: going down along via delle Fontane you get to the Porta dei Vacca, the northern entry to the 12th-century wall. Similar in its shape to the Soprana gateway (see Itinerary "A"), it presents the upstream tower still covered with the 18th-century coating of the nearby Serra palace, while the other tower shows its stone frame after a restoration.
Outside the door, via Pré continues the layout of via del Campo. Via Pré is a medieval path: its own name reveals how little this area was inhabitated before the 13th-14th century (Pré stands for prati, i.e . "meadows "). At the bottom of the street stands the church of S. Giovanni di Pré, built for the Knights Hospitaliers of Jerusalem by the end of the 12th century. Its bell-tower, with its pyramidal steeple, is a typical Romanic Genoese one. By that time, the annexed building of the Commenda was a convent, its ground floor being occupied by a hospital. The three loggias were once next to the sea; the two upper ones were transformed during the 16th century.
Straight on salita S. Giovanni di Pre' you get to piazza Acquaverde (Principe railway station), from where you head towards Piazza della Nunziata along via Balbi. At the beginning of the 17th century the Balbi family erected the palaces standing in the lower stretch of the street. Here, the original value of the residential quarter is overwhelmed by the heavy traffic, unlike via Garibaldi. Among the most remarkable palaces is that of the Università (no. 5), once boarding house of the Jesuits, featured by the grand succession of atrium, lifted courtyard and hanging garden; and the Palazzo Reale ("Royal Palace", no. 10) still having the same 18th-century aspect which was enjoyed by the Durazzo family. The Gallery inside the building maintains its character of richly furnished patrician house.
"Published by and reprinted with the kind permission of In Italy Online."
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