Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Cattedrale di San Lorenzo
(Piazza San Lorenzo; 8am-noon & 3-7pm)
Impressive even by Italian standards, Genoa's
black-and-white-striped Gothic-Romaesque cathedral owes its continued existence to the
poor quality of a British WWII bomb that failed to ignite here in 1941; it still sits on the
right side of the nave like an innocuous museum piece.
Fronted by twisting columns and crouching lions, the cathedral was first consecrated in
1118. The two bell towers and cupola were added in the 16th century.
Inside, above the central doorway, there's a great lunette with a painting of the Last
Judgment, the work of an anonymous Byzantine painter of the early 14th century. In the
4.50; tours 9am-noon & 3-6pm Mon-Sat)
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.
CATHEDRAL
Palazzo Reale
PALACE, MUSEUM
(
www.palazzorealegenova.it
; Via Balbi 10; adult/reduced €4/2; 9am-7pm Thu-Sun, to 1.30pm Tue &
Wed)
If you only get the chance to visit one of the Palazzi dei Rolli, make it this one - a
veritable Versailles with terraced gardens, exquisite furnishings and a fine collection of
Renaissance art. The gilded Hall of Mirrors is worth the entry fee alone.
Add in frescoes, stuccoes and numerous other artefacts collected by its two illustrious
Genovese owners, the Balbis and the Durazzos, and you'll be blinking gold for hours af-
terwards. Complimentary guided tours enhance the experience.
Museo del Risorgimento
MUSEUM
(
www.istitutomazziniano.it
; Via Lomellini 11; adult/reduced €4/2.80; 9am-7pm Tue-Fri, 10am-7pm Sat)
One of numerous Risorgimento (reunification period) museums in Italy, Genoa's has extra
significance: it is housed in the residence where Italian patriot and activist Giuseppe
Mazzini was born in 1805. Occupying rooms that once sheltered the so-called 'soul of
Italy' are flags, personal possessions and well-laid-out and succinct explanations (some of
them in English) of the complicated process of Italy's unification.
