Palazzo Doria-Tursi Explained

The palazzo Doria-Tursi or palazzo Niccolò Grimaldi is a building on Via Giuseppe Garibaldi in the historic town centre of Genoa. With Palazzo Rosso and Palazzo Bianco it houses the Strada Nuova Museums and on 13 July 2006 all three palaces and the streets around them became the World Heritage Site. Since 1848 Palazzo Doria-Tursi has also housed the city hall of Genoa.

History

The largest palazzo on the street and the only one built on three lots of land, it was begun in 1565 by the Mannerist architects Domenico and Giovanni Ponzello, pupils of Galeazzo Alessi, for Niccolò Grimaldi, known as "il Monarca" for his huge number of noble titles and for being main banker to Philip II of Spain. It had two large gardens to frame the central building. The large loggias facing the street were added in 1597, when the palazzo was acquired by Giovanni Andrea Doria for his younger son Carlo, Duke of Tursi, giving the building its present name.

Following the Kingdom of Sardinia's annexation of the Republic of Genoa, the building was acquired by Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia in 1820, at which point it was rebuilt by the Savoy court architect Carlo Randoni, adding the clock-tower.[1]

Architecture

Interior

See also

References

  1. Proposal for the inscription of Genoa Le Strade Nuove and the System of the Palazzi dei Rolli in the Unesco World Heritage List, Volume I - Dossier, p. 142 and following

Bibliography