The residences of Via Garibaldi
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Genoa was one of the richest cities in Europe: its bankers lent money to the kings of Spain and financed half the continent, so much so that historians call this period "the century of the Genoese". The great families, the Doria, Spinola, Grimaldi, Durazzo, Balbi and Pallavicino, built splendid palaces along new streets opened on the hillside above the medieval centre, the most famous of which is Via Garibaldi, laid out in the 1550s as Strada Nuova, which the painter Rubens admired so much that he published a book of drawings of its buildings.
The Republic of Genoa had no royal palace to host the visiting kings, princes and ambassadors, so in 1576 it created the system of the Rolli: official lists of the most beautiful private palaces, divided into categories, which were drawn by lot to host state guests, according to their rank. In 2006, Genoa's "Strade Nuove and the system of the Palazzi dei Rolli" became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In Via Garibaldi, three of these palaces form the Musei di Strada Nuova: Palazzo Rosso, with its frescoed rooms and works by Van Dyck, Dürer and Veronese; Palazzo Bianco, with paintings by Caravaggio, Rubens and Zurbarán; and Palazzo Tursi, the town hall, which houses "Il Cannone", the violin of Niccolò Paganini, still played on special occasions. Other palaces can be seen in Via Balbi, including the Palazzo Reale. Several times a year, the Rolli Days open the doors of dozens of palaces, normally closed, to the public.
Tip: don't just look at the façades: enter the atriums and courtyards; check the dates of the Rolli Days to visit the private palaces.
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