Genoa, Ital. Genŏva, French Gênes, a city of 156,000 inhab., was a republic and a great naval power in the middle ages, rivalling Venice, but declined after the 16th cent.; in 1797 it became the capital of Napoleon’s ‘Ligurian Republic’, and since 1815 has belonged to the kingdom of Sardinia which is now merged in that of Italy. Next to Marseilles it is the greatest of Mediterranean seaports. The exports and imports in 1908 amounted to 6.4 million tons, and the tonnage of shipping to 14.4 millions.
From the pier, either the Ponte Federico Guglielmo or the Ponte Andrea Doria (p. [113]), we cross the harbour-rails to the Palazzo Doria (Pl. A, B, 2), once presented by the republic to Andrea Doria (1468–1560), the famous admiral of Charles V., and enter the Piazza del Principe (Pl. B, 2; tramway, see p. [114]), with its handsome bronze monument to the Marchese Deferrari, Duke of Galliera (d. 1876), to whose generosity Genoa is partly indebted for its new quays (1877–95).
The Via Andrea Doria leads hence to the E. to the Piazza Acquaverde (Pl. B, C, 2), the square in front of the Railway Station, where, amid palms, rises a monument to Columbus, who was probably born at Genoa in 1451 (d. at Valladolid in 1506).
To the S.E. from this piazza runs a narrow line of streets, the chief artery of traffic, adorned with superb late-Renaissance edifices, built chiefly by Galeazzo Alessi (1512–72), named Via Balbi, Via Cairóli, and Via Garibaldi, and ending at the Piazza Fontane Marose. Several of the palaces are well worth seeing, especially for the sake of their grand staircases.
No. 10, on the right side of the Via Balbi, is the Palazzo Reale (Pl. C, 3), built after 1650 for the Durazzo family, and purchased in 1817 for the royal house of Sardinia. No. 5, on the left, is the Palazzo dell’Università (Pl. D, 2, 3), begun by Bart. Bianco in 1623 as a Jesuit school. The *Court and the staircases are considered the finest in Genoa.
Farther on, to the right, No. 4 is the Palazzo Balbi Senárega; No. 1, on the left, is the Palazzo Durazzo-Pallavicini (Pl. D, 3), both by Bart. Bianco. The picture-gallery in the latter (adm., see above) contains portraits by Rubens and Van Dyck, painted during their visits to Genoa.
We cross the Piazza dell’Annunziata (Pl. D, 3) with the handsome baroque church of that name on the left, and the small Piazza della Zecca (Pl. D, E, 3; funicular to Castellaccio, p. [117]), and then follow the Via Cairóli (Pl. D, E, 4) to the—
*Via Garibaldi (Pl. E, 4), which is flanked with numerous palaces. No. 13, on the left, is the Palazzo Bianco; No. 18, on the right, the Palazzo Rosso; both once belonged to the Brignole-Sale family, but were bequeathed to the city by the Marchesa Brignole-Sale (d. 1889), widow of the Duca di Galliera (p. [115]), and converted into the two galleries named Brignole-Sale (adm., see p. [115]). Most of the other palaces were designed by Gal. Alessi.
From the Piazza Fontane Marose (Pl. F, 4, 5) the short Via Carlo Felice leads to the S.W. to the Piazza Deferrari (Pl. E, 5, 6), the centre of the city and focus of most of the tramway-lines (p. [114]). The Accadémia di Belle Arti (Pl. E, F, 6), on the E. side of the Piazza, contains the valuable Museo Chiossone (adm., see p. [115]), a collection of Japanese and Chinese works of art.
The busy Via Roma (Pl. F, 5) leads to the N.E. from the Piazza Deferrari, past (right) the Galleria Mazzini, to the Piazza Corvetto (Pl. F, G, 5), adjoining which, on the left, on an old bastion is the Villetta Dinegro (Pl. F, 4; 242 ft.; fine views), a beautiful public park.