Genoa: le Strade Nuove and the system of the Palazzi dei Rolli

In the XVI century Genoa was a rich mercantile city, its traders crossed the Mediterranean, its bankers financed wars, kings and princes in Europe; moreover, until the rise of the Turkish in the XV century, Genoa held many colonies and fondachi in the Eastern Mediterranean and in the Black Sea. Thanks to the financial riches made by the medieval and late medieval mercantile nobility, the Genoa community, always inclined to municipal autonomy, advocated a unique urban and architectural renaissance in the central parts of the city. In the context of a difficult environmental context, where the urban fabric was densely populated and the room available scant, the endeavour of renovating the heart of Genoa started with a public order instituting special magistrates, defined plots and assigned them to the wealthiest families. The need of adapting the image of the city to the international prestige it enjoyed meant drawing straight streets and squares, in order to locate spectacular renaissance and baroque palaces. Thus Palazzi dei Rolli were built as the result of a very shrewd administration in which private interests merged with public ones, giving rise to an original model for the whole of Europe and paved the way to modern urban architecture. The image of Genoa fascinated travellers and artists and spread across the world through descriptions, engravings and illustrations portraying a superb city, with immerse riches earned thanks to the entrepreneurship of its citizens, and magnificent buildings by the sea.

By Senate decree in 1576, the palaces of Strade Nuove were classified according to the value of the land and the quality of the building, and therefore included in lists or rolls – called rolli, indeed the documents were sealed in rolls – for public hospitality: the families that lived there had the honour and the duty of hosting State visits and famous travellers such as princes, ambassadors, members of the clergy, and therefore take part, with the splendour of their home, in consolidating the image and diplomatic role of the city. The palaces were built on several levels, with vertical connections, lodges and parade yards. The construction of new palaces mainly took place in adjacent plots, with the inclusion of older houses and a tendency towards a vertical development. The ‘albergo pubblico’ was therefore built with private funds, though it served public hospitality purposes; it increased the prestige of the family and celebrated its stature with the aesthetic sophistication of the architecture and the exquisite use of decorative stuccoes, grotesque, portals and columns, for which Tuscan and Lombard craftsmen were engaged. The ‘alberghi’ for the nobility became a particular form of economic and social community around which the most powerful families organised into cliques. In a combination of public positions, public interests and private wealth, it often happened that, in new, lush quarters, neighbouring residences belonged to people connected by family and business ties. Moreover, those who became the owners of a residence listed in the Rolli, had access to administrative, legal and tax privileges, since their estate contributed to increasing the reputation of the city.

The Palazzi dei Rolli listed as UNESCO sites are42 and the streets featuring the highest concentration of noble residences are Via Garibaldi, Via Balbi, Via Lomellini and Salita Santa Caterina. Via Garibaldi was built in 1550 and was originally called “Via Maggiore”, later celebrated with the name Via Aurea, and finally called “Strada Nuova”, in that it housed a row of noble homes inhabited by the leading families of the city; the most majestic examples is probably Palazzo Niccolò Grimaldi or Doria-Tursi, currently the city hall. Palazzo Doria-Tursi, together with Palazzo Bianco and Palazzo Rosso, currently house a museum complex devoted to ancient art. Via Balbi was outlined in the first years of the XVII century and in its monumental stretch it was built with the support of an old family, the Balbi, who later built their residence here, currently known as Palazzo Reale, which in the XIX century was used as the palace of the House of Savoy. The palace is imposing and opens up to visitors with a number of outstanding halls, the hanging garden, the monumental lobby, the apartments of the Crown Princes and the Throne Hall. Most of the XVI-XVII century stuccoed and frescoed decorative elements are original and, with some pieces of furniture, are kept intact in their overwhelming baroque and rococo splendour.

Genoa started defining its foundation mythology in the Middle Ages, a time when the fortunes of the city were at its peak. The two main traits that identified the city were its maritime and trading vocation and the fight against infidels at sea. The pennant with a red cross on a white background dates back to the Middle Ages and, often matched with Saint George slaying the dragon, testifies to the local commitment against the Moors. The Christian culture and the mercantile inclination were the base for the ruling ideology: Genoa considered itself as the gateway of the sea to the east and the west, the portal connecting the continental plain of the river Po and the Alps to the vastness of the Mediterranean sea. Thus, this belief led to the genesis of a myth, according to which the founder and eponym of the city was Janus. Janus had all the ambivalence that also characterised Genoa. Thus is was written that the name Ianua or Ianicula came from Janus, the grandson of Noah – a reference to biblical tradition – and – in continuity of its pagan past – from Janus the classical god, the protector of passage, doors, navigation, civil living, whose head is two-sided, for Janus sees forward and backward, the beginning and the end (in Latin, ianua means “door, entrance, passage”). Janus fulfilled the double soul of Genoa, which saw itself as the lamb of Christian tradition and the fierce lion of the seas, which prospered thanks to its civic virtues. Next to Janus, anther symbol of Genoa was the Griffin, a mythical animal with such virtues as intelligence, strength and wit. The Griffin, the body of a lion and the head of an eagle, has Asian origins, though in European Middle Ages it was often associated with Christ and the church. Janus and the Griffin were included in the city crest and were often displayed in the XVI century iconography of Palazzi dei Rolli. Andrea Doria, for his splendid residence, requested that his home should draw inspiration from the classics in order to celebrate his and his family; thus the rest of the newly-built nobility of the city, of mercantile origin, wanted to glorify the antics of their members with mythological cycles or scenes depicting important episodes in the history of the city, in which their ancestors had taken part. In the current crest the red cross on the white background is surmounted by the ducal crown and supported by two griffins; on the top of the crown there is Janus’ head. Now it is clear how such symbols represent the identity of the city and its values.

Via Garibaldi 9. The palace may be considered the climax of the residential splendour of Genoa aristocrats. It was commissioned by Niccolò Grimaldi, the Prince of Salerno, Marquis of Diano, Duke of Eboli, Count of Rampolla and Lord of Altavilla, the leading banker of Philip II – he was called “the Monarch” for his power and wealth. The works began in 1565, they covered three plots of land and required a massive amount of material, craftsmen and funds; the architectural solutions resonate with the influence of a Spanish taste and offer particular effects through the use of several materials and perspectives, with stairways, courts and arcades. The palace has been the seat of the City of Genoa since 1848.

Largo Lanfranco 1.

It was built for the grandson of Andrea Doria, Antonio Doria, in 1541. The elegant porticoed court with two rows of columns is the core around which the whole building and its halls develop. The main portal was crafted by Taddeo Carlone and dates back to the end of the XVI century. The interior was decorated with frescoes of the mythological themes and several views of the city; the lobby displays the fresco called Gesta del Capitano Anotonio Doria, a testimony to the place of the family among the highest mercantile aristocracy of Genoa.

Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen, Westphalia, 1577 – Antwerp, 1640)

A master painter, in 1600 he set off for Italy and visited most of its cities; there he came in contact with the great Italian tradition. Genoa was particularly impressed in his brilliant imagination; in 1622 he published in Antwerp a volume with drawings of the Palazzi dei Rolli in Genoa, offering them as a residential models for the nobles of Antwerp and contributing to their fame in the world.

Andrea Doria (Oneglia, 1466 – Genoa, 1560)

An admiral of the Republic of Genoa, he was considered a prince and a patron of the arts. Though without any formal title, he was the master of the city. The son of one of the most prominent Ligurian families, he had a very long life for the standards of the time – when he died he was over 90 years old – and had countless successes thanks to his brilliant, start and ingenious mind. His destiny is bound to the city of Genoa, upon which he imposed his personal hegemony for many decades.  He started his career as a soldier of fortune and a warlord in the Mediterranean corsairing raids, offering his services to several lords. Then, at the beginning of the XVI century he tied a close knot with Genoa, winning important military and political battles on its behalf, such as the independence from the French and, subsequently, the alliance with Spain (1528) of Charles V, a move that allows Genoa bankers to impose their power on the European financial sector. Charles V gave Andrea Doria the title of Prince of Melfi; he survived countless battles and plots and managed to navigate through conspiracies among city factions and dangerous diplomatic relations with royal courts and the papal power.  Up until his death he was very influential in the city, always looking to consolidate the economic, military and cultural power of Genoa.

►  “[…] Nulla Italiae urbs fortior est, ideo quemadmodum Mediolanum poluposam ac magnam Itali(ani) vocant, Florentiam bellam, Venecias divitem et mirandam, Neapolim gentilem sive nibolem, Ravennam antiquam, ita Ianuam superbam sive magnanimam ac fortem appellant…”

Anselmo Adorno (1470)

 

►  “Il sito è poco rispetto al popolo, onde si sono ingegnati di fare case altissime et le strade strette […]. De palazzi ve ne sono innumerabili e tanto belli di dentro come di fuori, tutti pinti e ornati, che pare di vedere tante prospettive di scene”.

Giovan Battista Confalonieri (1592)

 

►  “Il più bello tra tutti i palazzi di Genova è a mio giudizio quello di Gerolamo Durazzo in via dei Balbi. Riuscirò a ricordare tutto quello che ho visto lì dentro?”

Charles De Brosses (1739)

► “…mi trovo ora in una bella città, una vera bella città: Genova. Si cammina sul marmo, tutto è marmo: scale, balconi, palazzi. I suoi palazzi si susseguono fitti; passando per le vie, si scorgono grandi soffitti patrizi tutti dipinti e dorati.”

Gustave Flaubert

Genoa and Venice were glorious Maritime Republics and shared the characteristic of being prominent maritime, trading and cultural hubs. Sometimes allies, most times arch-enemies, Venice and Genoa dominated the sea and fought for the control of the most daring or economically relevant routes, supported by an ambitious ruling class of mercantile descent. The most relevant aspect, though, is the analogy between the Rolli in Genoa and the extraordinary Venetian palaces along the Grand Canal, the main waterway across the lagoon city. These residences were built by the wealthiest, most noble families of Venice; these XV-XVII palaces, including Ca’ d’Oro, Ca’ Corner alla Regina, Ca’ Foscari and Ca’ Dario, competed for the primacy in terms of elegance and sophistication; they function, too, was contributing to the prestige and image of the city and the families that owned them. In Venice, too, the environmental context and the shortage of room translated into unique architectural solutions.

L’invenzione dei rolli. Genova, città di palazzi, a c. di E. Poleggi,  Skira Editore, Milano, 2004

Miti di città, a c. di M. Bettini, M. Boldrini, O. Calabrese, G.Piccinni, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Siena, 2010

La misura della bellezza. I 42 palazzi del rolli, a c. di I. Croce con disegni di G. Zibordi Marchesi, SAGEP, 2009

AA.VV., Genova. I palazzi di Rubens, Mondadori Electa, Milano, 2006

G. Airaldi, Andrea Doria, Salerno, 2015

G. Airaldi, Breve storia di Genova, Pacini, 2012

P. Ciliberto, Via Garibaldi. La strada nuova rinascimentale, SAGEP, 2008

P. Lingua, I Doria a Genova. Una dinastia mancata, Frilli, 2007

P. Lingua, Breve storia dei Gennovesi, Laterza, 2004

A. Pacini, La Genova di Andrea Doria nell’impero di Carlo V, Olschki, Firenze, 1999

E. Poleggi, Genova, una civiltà di palazzi, Milano, Silvana Editrice, 2002

E. Poleggi, Atlante dei Palazzi di Genova, Umberto Allemandi & C., Torino, 1998

E. Poleggi, P. Cevini, Genova, Laterza, Bari, 1981

M. Quercioli, I palazzi dei Rolli. Genova, Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato, 2008

P.P. Rubens, I palazzi di Genova, Tormena, Genova, 2001

whc.unesco.org/en/list/1211

www.unesco.beniculturali.it

www.comune.genova.it

www.rolliestradenuove.it/

www.visitgenoa.it/

www.irolli.it/

In the XVI century Genoa was a rich mercantile city, its traders crossed the Mediterranean, its bankers financed wars, kings and princes in Europe; moreover, until the rise of the Turkish in the XV century, Genoa held many colonies and fondachi in the Eastern Mediterranean and in the Black Sea. Thanks to the financial riches made by the medieval and late medieval mercantile nobility, the Genoa community, always inclined to municipal autonomy, advocated a unique urban and architectural renaissance in the central parts of the city. The environmental context was quite challenging since the urban fabric was densely populated and the room available scant in a place trapped between the sea and the mountains; the endeavour of renovating the heart of Genoa started with a public order instituting special magistrates, defined plots and assigned them to the wealthiest families. The need of adapting the image of the city to the international prestige it enjoyed meant drawing straight streets and squares, in order to locate spectacular renaissance and baroque palaces. Thus Palazzi dei Rolli were built as the result of a very shrewd administration in which private interests merged with public ones, giving rise to an original model offered to the whole of Europe, which paved the way to modern urban architecture.

By Senate decree in 1576, the palaces of Strade Nuove were classified according to the value of the land and the quality of the building, and therefore included in lists or rolls – called rolli, indeed the documents were sealed in rolls – for public hospitality: the families that lived there had the honour and the duty of hosting State visits and famous travellers such as princes, ambassadors, members of the clergy, and therefore take part, with the splendour of their home, in consolidating the image and diplomatic role of the city. The palaces were built on several levels, with vertical connections, lodges and parade yards. The construction of new palaces mainly took place in adjacent plots, with the inclusion of older houses and a tendency towards a vertical development.

The ‘albergo pubblico’ was therefore built with private funds, though it served public hospitality purposes; it increased the prestige of the family and celebrated its stature with the aesthetic sophistication of the architecture and the use of decorative stuccoes, grotesque, portals and columns. The ‘alberghi’ for the nobility became a particular form of economic and social community around which the most powerful families organised into cliques. In a combination of public positions, public interests and private wealth, it often happened that, in new, lush quarters, neighbouring residences belonged to people connected by family and business ties. Moreover, those who became the owners of a residence listed in the Rolli, had access to administrative and legal privileges.

The Palazzi dei Rolli listed as UNESCO sites are42 and the streets featuring the highest concentration of noble residences are Via Garibaldi, Via Balbi, Via Lomellini. Via Garibaldi was built in 1550 and was originally called “Via Maggiore”, later celebrated with the name Via Aurea, and finally called “Strada Nuova”, in that it housed a row of noble homes inhabited by the leading families of the city; the most majestic examples is probably Palazzo Niccolò Grimaldi or Doria-Tursi, currently the city hall. Palazzo Doria-Tursi, together with Palazzo Bianco and Palazzo Rosso, currently house a museum complex devoted to ancient art. Via Balbi was outlined in the first years of the XVII century and in its monumental stretch it was built with the support of an old family, the Balbi, who later built their residence here, currently known as Palazzo Reale, which in the XIX century was used as the palace of the House of Savoy and impresses with its Baroque and Rococò splendour.

(For a full list and a description of single palaces, http://www.irolli.it/genova_unesco/UN/patrimonio_umanita.html)

Genoa started defining its foundation mythology in the Middle Ages, a time when the fortunes of the city were at its peak. The two main traits that identified the city were its maritime and trading vocation and the fight against infidels at sea. The pennant with a red cross on a white background dates back to the Middle Ages and testifies to the local commitment against the Moors. Genoa considered itself as the gateway of the sea to the east and the west, the portal connecting the continental plain of the river Po and the Alps to the vastness of the Mediterranean sea. Thus, this belief led to the genesis of a myth, according to which Janus was the founder and eponym of the city. Janus had all the ambivalence that also characterised Genoa. Thus is was written that the name Ianua or Ianicula came from Janus, a classical god, the protector of passage, doors, navigation, civil living, whose head is two-sided, for Janus sees forward and backward, the beginning and the end (in Latin, ianua means “door, entrance, passage”). Next to Janus, anther symbol of Genoa was the Griffin, a mythical animal with such virtues as intelligence, strength and wit. The Griffin, the body of a lion and the head of an eagle, has Asian origins, though in European Middle Ages it was often associated with Christ and the church. Janus and the Griffin were included in the city crest,and were often displayed in the XVI century iconography of Palazzi dei Rolli. Andrea Doria, for his splendid residence, requested that his home should draw inspiration from the classics in order to celebrate his and his family; thus the rest of the newly-built nobility of the city, of mercantile origin, wanted to glorify the antics of their members with mythological cycles or scenes depicting important episodes in the history of the city, in which their ancestors had taken part. In the current crest the red cross on the white background is surmounted by the ducal crown and supported by two griffins; on the top of the crown there is Janus’ head. Now it is clear how such symbols represent the identity of the city and its values.

Via Garibaldi, 9. The palace stands as the climax of the residential splendour of Genoa aristocrats. It was commissioned by Niccolò Grimaldi, the Prince of Salerno, Marquis of Diano, Duke of Eboli, Count of Rampolla and Lord of Altavilla, the leading banker of Philip II – he was called “the Monarch” for his power and wealth. The works began in 1565, they covered three plots of land and required a massive amount of material, craftsmen and funds; the architectural solutions resonate with the influence of a Spanish taste and offer particular effects through the use of several materials and perspectives, with stairways, courts and arcades. The palace has been the seat of the City of Genoa since 1848.

Largo Lanfranco, 1. It was built for the grandson of Andrea Doria, Antonio Doria, in 1541. The elegant porticoed court with two rows of columns is the core around which the whole building and its halls develop. The main portal was crafted by Taddeo Carlone and dates back to the end of the XVI century. The interior was decorated with frescoes of the mythological themes and several views of the city; the lobby displays the fresco called Gesta del Capitano Anotonio Doria, a testimony to the place of the family among the highest mercantile aristocracy of Genoa.

Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen, Westphalia, 1577 – Antwerp 1640)

A master painter, in 1600 he set off for Italy and visited most of its cities; there he came in contact with the great Italian tradition. Genoa was particularly impressed in his brilliant imagination; in 1622 he published in Antwerp a volume with drawings of the Palazzi dei Rolli in Genoa, offering them as a residential models for the nobles of Antwerp and contributing to their fame in the world.

Andrea Doria (Oneglia 1466 – Genoa 1560)

An admiral of the Republic of Genoa, he was considered a prince and a patron of the arts. Though without any formal title, he was the master of the city. The son of one of the most prominent Ligurian families, he had a very long life for the standards of the time – when he died he was over 90 years old – and had countless successes thanks to his brilliant, start and ingenious mind. His destiny is bound to the city of Genoa, upon which he imposed his personal hegemony for many decades. He started his career as a soldier of fortune and a warlord in the Mediterranean corsairing raids, offering his services to several lords. Then, at the beginning of the XVI century he tied a close knot with Genoa, winning important military and political battles on its behalf, such as the independence from the French and, subsequently, the alliance with Spain (1528) of Charles V, a move that allows Genoa bankers to impose their power on the European financial sector. Charles V gave Andrea Doria the title of Prince of Melfi; he survived countless battles and plots and managed to navigate through conspiracies among city factions and dangerous diplomatic relations with royal courts and the papal power.  Up until his death he was very influential in the city, always looking to consolidate the economic, military and cultural power of Genoa.

Genoa and Venice were glorious Maritime Republics and shared the characteristic of being prominent maritime, trading and cultural hubs. Sometimes allies, most times arch-enemies, Venice and Genoa dominated the sea and fought for the control of the most daring or economically relevant routes, supported by an ambitious ruling class of mercantile descent. The most relevant aspect, though, is the analogy between the Rolli in Genoa and the extraordinary Venetian palaces along the Grand Canal, the main waterway across the lagoon city. These residences were built by the wealthiest, most noble families of Venice; these XV-XVII palaces, including Ca’ d’Oro, Ca’ Corner alla Regina, Ca’ Foscari and Ca’ Dario, competed for the primacy in terms of elegance and sophistication; they function, too, was contributing to the prestige and image of the city and the families that owned them. In Venice, too, the environmental context and the shortage of room translated into unique architectural solutions.

Reception, noun, providing or receiving hospitality. From Latin hospes, “foreigner, stranger, host”.

Clique, noun, in the Middle Ages is meant a group of families and individuals making alliances in order to pursue common interests and goals; the word later acquired a bad meaning, indicating noble circles united to protect their own privileges.

Combination, noun, union, tie, agreement, close bound producing obligations and advantages, alliance.

Hegemony, noun, supremacy, rule, control exerted by a person on its peers; political, economic and cultural rule of a State on other areas.

Corsairing raids, an expression indicating maritime wars, very common in the Middle Ages though older in origin, widely used also in modern times; a state or a political authority appointed private ships to take possession of enemy merchant ships in order to cause economic damage. Indeed, corsairs were different from pirates din that the former acted ‘legally’ upon official appointment of a Government. The term ‘corsair’ comes from Latin cursus, ‘to run’, ‘journey’, ‘course’, since corsairs sped across the water to pray on enemy mercantile fleets on behalf of their clients.

Pennant, noun, flag, crest, standard.

Eponym, noun, from Greek epí, ‘over’, and ònoma, ‘name’; a character, real or fictional, who gives its name to a city, a place or a people because of its remarkable importance. By extension and in a modern use, the name of the hero/character may apply to a historic period or a cultural or political movement.

Fondaco, noun, pl. fondachi,  a building (or a complex of buildings) of medieval origin, which in maritime cities served as a warehouse and, often, as lodging for foreign merchants and traders. It usually consisted of a room at the ground floor or a basement.