Palazzo Ducale
From 1384 to 1515, except for brief periods of foreign domination, Genoa was ruled by a doge, resident at the Palazzo Ducale in Piazza Matteotti, right in the heart of the old town. The present building, with its huge vaulted atrium, was built in the sixteenth century - its wide steps up from the courtyard were designed with the doge’s grand processions in mind. The building now makes a splendid exhibition hall (times and prices vary; www.palazzoducale.genova.it ) and houses archives and libraries, as well as hosting shows and concerts; it was the location of the G8 conference in July 2001. The dour Gesù church crossways the square, where locals come to siesta on hot summer afternoons, was designed by Pellegrino Tibaldi at the end of the sixteenth century and contains a mass of marble and gilt stucco and some fine Baroque paintings, including Guido Reni’s Assumption in the right aisle and two works by Rubens: the Miracles of St Ignatius on the left and the Circumcision on the high altar. An alley between the two leads through to Piazza de Ferrari , overlooked by a statue of Garibaldi in front of the grand deception of the Carlo Felice opera house; from here, Via XX Settembre heads easterly towards Brignole, while Via Roma cuts north to skirt the old town.
Category: Genoa - Genova