Showing 1-22 of 22 results
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Acquario
Jutting out over the water, Genoa's bright-blue Acquario has more than 5000 sea creatures, including sharks, swimming in six million litres of water. The adjoining floating barge takes visitors on a voyage through the Age of Discovery and into a Madagascan rainforest. The aquarium has disabled access.
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Biosfera
One of Renzo Piano's two most distinctive new additions to the port is the Biosfera, a giant glass ball housing a humid mini-ecosystem with tropical plants, butterflies and birds.
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Cattedrale di San Lorenzo
With its black-and-white-striped Gothic marble facade making it look a bit like a giant humbug, Genoa's Cattedrale di San Lorenzo is fronted by twisting columns and crouching lions. Consecrated in 1118, its two bell towers and cupola were added in the 16th century.
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Chiesa del Gesù
The highlight of the Chiesa del Gesù, built in 1597 on the foundations of a medieval church, are two works by Rubens. The Circoncisione hangs over the main altar, and the Miracoli di San Ignazio is displayed in a side chapel.
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Galata Museo del Mare
The best place to gain an appreciation for Genoa's relationship with the sea is the excellent Galata Museo del Mare, which traces the history of seafaring from earliest times through the ages of sail and steam to the present via high-tech exhibits.
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Galleria Nazionale
Galleria Nazionale, a 16th-century mansion, was owned by the Spinolas, one of the Republic's most formidable dynasties. Their ancestral home displays Italian and Flemish Renaissance art, but is also worth visiting to gape at the awesome architecture.
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Il Bigo
A panoramic lift, Il Bigo, hoists a cylindrical viewing cabin 200m into the air. The lift, designed by Renzo Piano, has disabled access.
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Musei di Strada Nuova
Three of Via Garibaldi's grand palaces, Rosso, Bianco and Doria-Tursi, comprise the Musei di Strada Nuova. Between them, they hold the city's finest collection of Old Masters.
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Museo d'Arte Orientale
Just east of Via Garibaldi, a path from Piazza Corvetto twists through terraced gardens to the Museo d'Arte Orientale. With some 20,000 items, including porcelain, bronzes, costumes and musical instruments, it brings together one of Europe's largest collections of Japanese art. Heading southwest, elegant Via Roma, with its Art Nouveau boutiques, and adjacent glass-covered Galleria Mazzini, is Genoa's most exclusive designer-shopping street. It links Piazza Corvetto with Piazza de Ferrari.
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Museo del Jazz
The Museo del Jazz, which has a collection of original recordings. High-profile temporary art exhibitions are held in the palazzo, which also has a bookshop, café and restaurants.
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Museo del Tesoro
In the sacristy of the Cattedrale di San Lorenzo, the Museo del Tesoro preserves various dubious holy relics, including the medieval Sacro Catino, a glass vessel once thought to be the Holy Grail. Other artefacts include the polished quartz platter upon which Salome is said to have received John the Baptist's head, and a fragment of the True Cross.
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Museo delle Culture del Mondo
The neo-Gothic Castello D'Albertis houses the eclectic Museo delle Culture del Mondo. It was built in 1892 on the ruins of a much older castle for the globetrotting Capitano Enrico D'Albertis, who hauled back all manner of 'curiosities' from his extensive sea voyages. Where else could you find a stuffed platypus, a fragment of the Great Wall of China and a handful of sand from San Salvador (Columbus' first landing point) in the same cabinet?
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Palazzo Bianco
Flemish, Spanish and Italian artists feature at Palazzo Bianco. Rubens' Venere e Marte and Van Dyck's Vertumna e Pomona are among the highlights, which also include works by Hans Memling, Filippino Lippi and Murillo, as well as 15th-century religious icons.
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Palazzo del Principe
On the waterfront is the beautiful Palazzo del Principe, once home of the 16th-century admiral, Andrea Doria. The sumptuous Renaissance interiors, with frescoes, tapestries, furniture and paintings, have been painstakingly restored, and the formal gardens provide a calm respite from the frenetic city.
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Palazzo Doria-Tursi
Tickets must be purchased at the bookshop inside Palazzo Doria-Tursi. The palace's Sala Paganiniana has a small but absorbing collection of legendary violinist Niccolò Paganini's personal effects. Pride of place goes to his 'Canone' violin, made in Cremona in 1743. One lucky musician gets to play the maestro's violin during October's Paganiniana festival. Other artefacts on show include letters, musical scores and his travelling chess set. The palace has housed Genoa's town hall since 1848.
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Palazzo Ducale
Gracing the Piazza de Ferrari is the Palazzo Ducale, which is also accessed via adjoining Piazza Giacomo Matteotti. Once the seat of the city's rulers, today it hosts a few small, specialist museums and archives.
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Palazzo Lomellino
The most elaborate facade on historic Via Garibaldi belongs to the Palazzo Lomellino, which dates from 1563. The grey-blue exterior is festooned with stucco adornments, while the internal courtyard is dominated by an 18th-century nymphaeum (monument consecrated to the nymphs).
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Palazzo Reale
Terraced gardens surround Palazzo Reale, which has a fine collection of Renaissance works.
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Palazzo Rosso
Lavishly frescoed rooms in Palazzo Rosso are the backdrop for several portraits by Van Dyck of the local Brignole-Sale family. Other standouts include Guido Reni's San Sebastiano and Guercino's La morte di Cleopatra, as well as works by Veronese, Dürer and Bernardo Strozzi.
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Palazzo San Giorgio
Marco Polo was once an inmate in the frescoed Palazzo San Giorgio. Built in 1260, it became a prison in 1298; Polo worked on Il Milione here. These days it hosts occasional exhibitions; the port's information kiosk has information.
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Piazza de Ferrari
A splashing fountain is the centrepiece of Genoa's main square, the Piazza de Ferrari. It's ringed by magnificent buildings, including the Art Nouveau Palazzo della Borsa (closed to the public), which was once the country's stock exchange; and the neoclassical Teatro Carlo Felice .
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Port
Since its recent face-lift, Genoa's historic port gets packed with locals and visitors enjoying a passeggiata (stroll). The port's information booth has details about all of the old port's attractions and events, including various activities here for kids.
Showing 1-22 of 22 results
