2024-09-24 12:00:00
LCardinal de Retz dedicated one of his most famous works to him, The Conjuring of the Count de Fiesque – Plot dating from 1547. Fernand Braudel saw it as “Heart of Western Ecology” between the 16th and 17th centuries, when Charles V, and with him all of Europe, took from his bankers – a situation which only ended with the Congress of Vienna. Rubens stayed there and brought back the contract on the patrician company while going after some paintings – like his student Van Dyck… They are still there, after closing the palaces of the great families.
Undoubtedly, the Fieschi have been gone since the end of the 16th century – one does not miss an imperial attack against Doria with impunity – but their coat of arms still decorates the walls of the diocesan museum where the delicate monument is being restored. the funeral of Cardinal Luca Fieschi, organized in the 1340s in the Cathedral of San Lorenzo. Right next to the incredible set of 16th century paintings in Genoa blue, recounting the passion of Christ, and among the ephemeral chapel during Holy Month.
READ IT AGAIN Escape – Back to TuscanyFew remember those times when Superb – Genoa’s nickname – looked down on the world. The Marquis Negrone, an aristocrat with the appearance of Nicolas de Staël, was one of them. And when we talk about the Corsican and Roman branch of Fieschi, Lavagna, the son of one of the most famous political scholars in Europe, he is not happy to find the relations of the distant relatives of everything lost. when he still lived in the family palace in Piazza Marzone.
Frescoes witness family exploits
Sometimes he welcomes a few friends who pass by there for a drink – his family drinks wine -, faithful to Genoa’s tradition of hospitality. “It is not an empty word, but a system, of Violence, established in 1576 by the Republic. The idea? Receive visiting dignitaries in palaces built by great families, and divided into four categories. Some like hotels, smiled at the Marquis as he passed through the secret garden and the nearby private church – “My daughters got married there”before returning upstairs the gallery is decorated with frescoes witnessing family abuses, especially during the Lepanto War “Here we come three ships”.
System of Violence now counted more than 200 palaces in the 18th century, titillating the pride of the Dorias, the Grimaldis – today reign over Monaco – the Balbis, the Pallavicinis … The “Rolli Day”, a few weeks a year, are opportunity to discover some of these residences – only three or four, which have become museums, can be visited completely. Marquis Negrone is not open to everyone – “too fragile”he said.
He was not the only one. A few meters away, on Via Garibaldi which is the main point of Genoa’s maritime and financial power, tracing the facades speaks of the futility of life… During the week, we can see the activity that still dominates the landscape. – the floor of the valley palace: the major European banks are in their area in the capital there – just the opposite. Now, in number 4, we admire the frescoes of the facade and the hall of the palace of Angelo Giovanni Spinola, due to the Genoese painter Calvi and showing the glory of his patrons. It is not the only one of the 42 palaces Violence now listed as UNESCO World Heritage; it is also one of the best preserved.
The heart of Genoa is still there
As Filippo Cosmelli, the host of If Experience, who sometimes opens the doors to the amazing lounges on the first floor, points out: “It is remarkable for the line of lounges with historic decorations, baroque illustrations and frescoes showing the ancient structure of the building area, when its facades open onto the long gardens that the city has acquired. » All with the comfort of the houses, large velvet sofas with big hair and family photos that testify to the honor of the current owners, side by side with Elizabeth II, Juan Carlos I or Wilhelm of the Netherlands – will not happy to join their previous creditors. glorious fathers. No doubt because there is opulence in Genoa, and a glass of negrone is always better when enjoyed together with a Rubens or a Van Dyck.
It is also logical that this palace is the headquarters of the group Friends of Genoa, whose mission is to restore it to the Superbe, scarred in the 1960s by a road regardless, after all: the spirit of Genoa is still there , his taste for beauty lives in his palaces, the passion for life flourishes in his ways, in his confectioneries – like Romanengo who, since 1780, enjoys his candied fruits and candies -, but also its urban areas – where it is far from the tourists we are. meet foraperitifIts dishes where we celebrate the Ligurian taste for the sea. Don’t repeat too much.
go there
Of Experience, specialist in tailor-made travel, offers stays of two nights and three days enriched with experiences around the taste, private palaces and businesses of Genoa, with, among others, private tours of the palace Negrone and Angelo Giovanni Spinola, tastings in Romanengo, private tour of the diocesan museum, accommodation in a palace, and a few surprises.
Asking price: ifexperience.com
Transavia operates direct flights to Genoa: transavia.com
To find out more about the program Violence : rolliestradenuove.it
And to book for the following “Rolli Days”: visitgenoa.it
#secret #Superb