Italy Travel And Hotel Guide

A shrine stuck on the side surround of San Donato faces up Stradone San Agostino, ordered out in the eighteenth century and now home to a quirky array of bars and workshops. Partway up, stairs lead you into Ignazio Gardella’s architecture faculty of the university, with a tranquil internal garden courtyard giving expansive views over the city. At the top of the street is the long, narrow bulge of Piazza Sarzano , originally home to Genoa’s many ropemaking workshops and, due to its enormous length, still the scene for medieval-style jousting tournaments. The piazza is marked by the mosaic spire of the newly rebuilt church of Sant’Agostino ; alongside it is the unique triangular cloister of the thirteenth-century monastery, which now houses the Museo di Sant’Agostino (Tues-Sat 9am-7pm, Sun 9am-12.30pm; L6000/¬3.10), displaying Roman and Romanesque masonry fragments, led by the graceful tomb of Margherita of Brabant, sculpted in 1312 by Giovanni Pisano and now with only a part surviving. Sneak down behind a remnant of the city surround at the southeastern corner of Piazza Sarzano alongside the church of San Antonio, and an alley lined with pretty houses will lead you down into the tranquil little enclosed piazza of Campopisano . It was here, during the wars between Genoa and Pisa, that Pisan prisoners were brought in chains, executed and buried; today, the pavement sports pretty mosaics in local rissëu style, using smooth white stones collected from the beach and black stones - or serpentinita - quarried from dark veins of slate that snake their way crossways nearby hillsides.

North from Piazza Sarzano streets connect to the Porta Soprana , a twin-towered stone gateway featuring impressive Gothic arches (surprisingly dating from as primeval as 1155) that now stands as the focus for a rather upmarket collection of bars and terrace cafés.

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