Genoa.
Restored palaces, renovated museums, and a historic centre brought back to its former splendour are just some of the reasons to visit Genoa—along with the opportunity to enjoy its evenings, discover hidden corners, and truly experience the city. The Cinque Terre, now a Natural Park and protected by UNESCO, need no introduction.
Food curiosities: in the Cinque Terre, alongside the excellent—now rare and very expensive—Sciacchetrà wine, one must not forget the famous hand-processed anchovies of Monterosso. Equally renowned, and certainly worth remembering, is Genoese pesto, made with the wonderfully fragrant basil grown in the hinterland of Genoa.
Portovenere.
Visiting Portovenere on a sunny day beneath a blue sky is an experience that leaves its mark. The village, which owes its name to the Temple of Venus once located where the Church of San Pietro now stands, boasts many remarkable highlights: the beautiful row of polychrome houses, the well-preserved urban layout, the castle watching from above, the Church of San Lorenzo and, above all, the Church of San Pietro, which rises from the headland in an extraordinary position. Built in the 13th century, it features the characteristic black-and-white banding typical of churches in the area. It is also the perfect spot from which to admire the coastline and Palmaria Island, Liguria’s only inhabited island, a nature reserve crossed by paths through Mediterranean scrub.
The Golden Age of the Genoese
Between the 16th and 17th centuries, enriched by dozens of new noble palaces, enlivened by magnificent open-air frescoes, and with its nobility portrayed by Rubens and later by his pupil Van Dyck, Genoa experienced the height of its splendour. This period, known even more precisely as “the century of the Genoese”, can be dated from 1528, when the new oligarchic government was established, to the mid-17th century, when the construction of the Mura Nuove came to an end. The urban design and the finest buildings, so powerful and theatrical even within narrow spaces and on steep slopes, bear witness to the originality and elegance of Genoese culture at the time.
Cinque Terre National Park
Eighteen kilometres of rocky coastline rich in bays, beaches and deep waters, dominated by a chain of mountains running parallel to the shore. Particularly distinctive are the terraced vineyards and olive groves, supported by ancient dry-stone walls. Then there are the paths and mule tracks that bear witness to the centuries-long work of generations who transformed an inaccessible land into a place of breathtaking views, with five unique villages — Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore — overlooking a protected marine area. In short, this is the Cinque Terre, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site as early as 1997.
The Genoa San Giorgio Bridge is a motorway viaduct spanning the Polcevera stream and the districts of Sampierdarena and Cornigliano in the city of Genoa. The bridge, built to replace the original Polcevera viaduct, which partially collapsed on 14 August 2018 and was completely demolished in 2019, was designed by Renzo Piano, built by Webuild and Fincantieri, and inaugurated on 3 August 2020. The bridge project was developed by the Genoese architect Renzo Piano through his Building Workshop studio and officially presented on 7 September 2018. Built in a mixed steel-concrete structure, it is 1,067 metres long and consists of 19 spans supported by 18 reinforced-concrete piers with a constant elliptical section. The viaduct is illuminated by 18 main lamp posts positioned in the centre of the carriageway, known as Pennoni, as well as others on the curves and at the junctions between the bridge and the Coronata tunnel and between the bridge and the A7 motorway. The viaduct is constantly monitored by four robots equipped with wheels, which move along rails on the outside of the viaduct, and articulated arms. These automata are responsible for inspecting the underside of the bridge and cleaning the wind barriers and solar panels.
Genoa’s historic centre is home to splendid artistic and architectural treasures and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is home to the so-called “Strade Nuove”, which feature the magnificent “Palazzi dei Rolli”: a series of noble Renaissance and Baroque residences built between the 16th and 17th centuries. With their elegance, these palaces represented Genoa’s greatness in the eyes of the world and were listed in civic registers, known as rolli, through which the residences chosen to host illustrious guests on state visits were selected. The forty-two fully restored palaces, now part of the World Heritage list, constitute the first example in Europe of urban planning carried out by the city authorities according to a unified design and in response to specific organisational and representational needs. Construction of the Strade Nuove began in 1551, during the flourishing oligarchic Republic re-founded by Admiral Andrea Doria, and they were destined to become the city’s “wealthy district”: this was where the residences of the most important aristocratic families of the period, the new ruling class, were located. The first rolli were officially issued in 1576 and contained a list of palaces divided into bussoli, or quality categories, much like today’s hotel star ratings. The architectural refinement of the palaces, the elegance of their façades, the richness of their decorations and artworks, the imposing entrance staircases, and the inner courtyards adorned with splendid loggias and verdant gardens make this a truly unique place to visit. The most prestigious palaces, which belonged to the first category of the rolli, are located on Via Lomellini, Via Garibaldi and Via Balbi. Among the most beautiful are surely the 17th-century Palazzo Rodolfo and Francesco Maria Brignole, or Palazzo Rosso, and the 16th-century Palazzo Luca Grimaldi, or Palazzo Bianco, and Palazzo Niccolò Grimaldi, or Doria Tursi, the most majestic on Via Garibaldi. These three residences now house the first section of the Musei di Strada Nuova and important collections of Italian, Flemish and Spanish art, including outstanding works by Guercino, Veronese, Antoon Van Dyck, Caravaggio, and the celebrated Penitent Magdalene by Canova. Then there is Palazzo Reale on Via Balbi, built in the 17th century by the Balbi family and residence, in the 19th century, of the Royal House of Savoy. Today the palace, now a museum complex of twenty-three rooms, remains etched in every visitor’s memory for its monumental atrium with 18th-century stuccoes, hanging garden, noble apartment on the second floor, Throne Room, Ballroom and Hall of Mirrors. In Largo Eros Lanfranco stands Palazzo Doria-Spinola, built for Admiral Antonio Doria, a relative of the more famous Andrea, with its magnificent reception rooms, Renaissance courtyard and the frescoes in the Tapestry Room and the great hall. Also noteworthy for the Renaissance elegance of its colonnades, grand staircase and hanging gardens is Palazzo Durazzo-Pallavicini. It is impossible to mention all the Palazzi dei Rolli: only a walk through the streets of the historic centre of this splendid city of art, discovering an age of splendour, court balls and affairs of state, can truly convey the spirit of a place where time seems to have stood still.
