Visit the Doge’s Palace
1 – 31 august 2022

open everyday, from 11 am to 7pm

Palazzo Ducale, the formerseat of power of the Republic of Genoa, is now the center for Art and Culture in Genoa. It hosts art exhibitions, cultural and educational events.
The core of the building dates back to 1291, but its look changes visibly only at the end of the sixteenth century at the hand of Vannoni who reshapes the environment in order to represent the extraordinary political and economic power achieved by the Republic during the Siglo de los Genoveses. Noteworthy is the Chapel realized by G.B. Carlone in the first half of the seventeenth century in the honor of Virgin Mary.
In 1777, a large part of Palazzo Ducale is devastated by a ruinous fire. The restoration of the halls of the Maggior and Minor Consiglio as well as the façade overlooking Matteotti Square, is committed to the Neoclassical architect Simone Cantoni, who also designed the Scala Cantoni, the spacious and elegant elliptical staircase
which was built in order to connect the corner of the hall to the head rooms on the top floor. Before then, the area was part of the open entrance leaning over the stairs below and used as the foyer of the Sala del Minor Consiglio, an environment originally conceived as a single, uninterrupted space.
The so called Grimaldina Tower is the most evident sign of the palace’s medieval origins. Initially a symbol of municipal power and later of the power of the Republic of Genoa, ever since the fourteenth century the tower and the rooms below it have been used as a secret goal for political prisoners, conspirators and anarchists. Expressions of hope, professions of innocence and erotic drawings cover the walls of the garret cells, while the lighter, larger rooms in the tower contain mural depicting sailing vessels, military bands, and allegorical scenes.

Tickets

Full 5€

Reduced 4€

reduced kids 3€