Genoa's Street of Gold

Genoa's Street of Gold

This walk starts from Piazza delle Fontane Marose and heads west along Via Garibaldi, one of Genoa's most famous streets. Between 1551 and 1558, three auctions sold off the lots of land along what was then known as the Via Aurea (Golden Street) to wealthy Genovese families, who proceeded to build the extravagant palaces you see there now. Several have become museums housing world-class collections. Many of the rest have courtyards open to the public.

Palazzo Cambiaso, at Via Garibaldi 1, is the first palace on the right, and like several of the other palaces along the street, it's now a bank. Built between 1558 and 1560 for Agostino Pallavicino, it is also one of the street's more traditionally designed buildings. The Palazzo Gambaro, at No. 2, is the first palace on your left. Perhaps fittingly, given that this building, too, is now a bank, the marble statues flanking the entrance represent Vigilance and Prudence. Number 3 is the Palazzo Lercari Parodi, built between 1571 and 1578. It's said that the broken noses of the figures on either side of the door are representative of Mengollo Lercari's penchant for cutting off the noses of prisoners. Note that the courtyard, rather than being centrally located, sits in front of the main portion of the building. At No. 4, the Palazzo Carrega Cataldi, built between 1558 and 1561 by Tobia Pallavicino, the "King of Alum" (a fixative used for dyeing cloth), is now home to Genoa's Chamber of Commerce. It was built on a relatively small lot, hence the claim that the architect, Giovanni Battista Castello (1509-69), fece grande in poco spazio (basically, did a lot with a little). In fact, there's a fair bit of theatricality to the design. For example, if the main entrance is open, you can see the grand double staircase that leads to the first floor. Only one side actually goes somewhere -- the other is there simply for show. Farther down the street, at No. 5, is the Palazzo Spinola, one of many palaces built in Genoa by the fabulously wealthy Spinola family. It was built in 1558 for Angelo Giovanni Spinola, Genovese ambassador to the court of Spain and banker to Philip II. Rather austere on the outside, it's sumptuously stuccoed and frescoed within.

The brothers Giovanni Battista and Andrea Spinola built the palace at No. 6, now the Palazzo Doria. In the atrium hangs a wrought-iron chandelier with the eagles symbolizing the Doria family, who bought the place in 1723. Moving along to No. 7, you reach the Palazzo Podestà (1559-66), named after one of Genoa's longest-sitting mayors, Andrea Podestà. In office almost continuously between 1866 and 1895, Podestà didn't have much of a commute to work -- the town hall is right next door, at No. 9.

The Palazzo Cattaneo Adorno, at Nos. 8 and 10, was the last palace built on the land auctioned between 1551 and 1558. Shortly after the auction, the lot was resold, at an inflated price, to Lazzaro and Giacomo Spinola. Despite the homogeneous appearance of the facade, the building contains two separate palaces. Number 8 was purchased by a member of the Cattaneo family in 1875, while No. 10 passed to Giovanni Battista Adorno, Giacomo Spinola's son-in-law. It still belongs to the Adorno family. At No. 12 is the Palazzo Campanella, unfortunately considerably damaged during a World War II bombardment. The facade has been restored, but the palace's claim to fame, the Salon of the Sun -- a French-style room filled with mirrors and sculpture -- is lost forever. The largest of Via Garibaldi's palaces is at No 9. This is the Palazzo Doria Tursi, built between 1565 and 1579 by the enormously wealthy banker Niccolò Grimaldi, nicknamed "the monarch." Later purchased by Giovanni Andrea Doria, the palace then passed on to his son Carlo, the Duke of Tursi, and now serves as Genoa's town hall. Directly opposite, at Nos. 14 and 16, and set slightly back from the street, is the Palazzo delle Torrette (1562-66). Built by the Doria Tursi as a pendant to their main palace, the building also served as a passage to the workshops and other properties the family owned in the Caruggi District, just to the south. Next to the Palazzo Doria Tursi, and the last palace to the right on Via Garibaldi, is the Palazzo Bianco, which was transformed in 1714 by Maria Durazzo Brignole Sale. It has a classical facade covered with white plaster (from which it gets its name). Maria Brignole Sale gave the palace to the city of Genoa in 1884 on condition that it become an art gallery. The Brignole Sale also owned the last palace on the left-hand side of Via Garibaldi, the Palazzo Rosso, built between 1671 and 1677 with a red stone facade. It was also given by Maria Brignole Sale to the city of Genoa, in 1874. One block past the Palazzo Rosso, turn left onto Via 4 Canti di San Francesco and follow it down to Via della Madonna, where you turn right, and shortly thereafter left onto Via Pellicceria. Here stands perhaps the grandest of the Spinola family's palaces, the Palazzo Spinola. Built for Grimaldi in 1593, it passed to the Spinola in the early 17th century. It was partially rebuilt and then turned over to the Italian State, which made it the Galleria Nazionale. In passing, don't miss the 15th-century sculpted doorway, with a relief of Saint George, across the street. After this substantial dose of Genoa at its most luxurious, you can see another side of Genoa by dipping into the Caruggi District, the warren of medieval alleys positioned directly below, and only a few steps away from, Via Garibaldi's opulence.