The Genoa Courthouse (, also known as ''Palazzo degli Uffici Giudiziari'') is a judicial complex located in the
Portoria
Portoria (''Portöia'' in Ligurian language, Ligurian) is a central district of Genoa, administratively included in Municipio I Centro Est.
It was one of the ''sestieri'' into which the city of Genoa was anciently divided. Its name is linked to ...
district of
Genoa
Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...
, Italy.
History
On the site of the courthouse, there previously stood the building of the ancient Pammatone hospital from the
15th century
The 15th century was the century which spans the Julian calendar dates from 1 January 1401 (represented by the Roman numerals MCDI) to 31 December 1500 (MD).
In Europe, the 15th century includes parts of the Late Middle Ages, the Early Re ...
, which was renovated by
Andrea Orsolino in the second half of the
18th century
The 18th century lasted from 1 January 1701 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCCI) to 31 December 1800 (MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the Atlantic Revolutions. Revolutions began to ch ...
. In 1928, after the closure of the hospital, the building housed the municipal demographic offices.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the structure suffered severe damage due to
bombings in 1943, leaving only the courtyard
portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...
and part of the foundation intact. At the end of the war, it was decided to build the new courthouse on this site, with the project entrusted to architect
Giovanni Romano
Giovanni Romano (died 1485) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Terni (1481–1485). ''(in Latin)''
Romano was ordained a priest in the Order of Preachers.
In 1481, he was appointed by Pope Sixtus IV
Pope Sixtus IV ...
, with the collaboration of Giorgio Olcese, Giulio Zappa, and Luciano Mascia, who worked on it starting from 1950. However, construction work only began in 1966, and the building was completed in 1974.
Description
The project for the building included restoring the portico, with a faithful reconstruction of the internal courtyard, still accessible via the old original staircase.[Franco, Musso (2016): 139.] The architects aimed to integrate the surviving parts of the hospital with a modern steel, glass and concrete structure, also recovering the mezzanine
A mezzanine (; or in Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft with non-sloped ...
and the large clock in the center, in order to recreate, as far as possible, the original setting of the 18th-century courtyard.
References
Sources
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External links
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*{{Cite web, url=https://censimentoarchitetturecontemporanee.cultura.gov.it/scheda-opera?id=641, title=Palazzo degli Uffici Giudiziari, work=Censimento architetture contemporanee, publisher= Ministero della cultura, access-date=29 April 2025
Buildings and structures in Genoa
Courthouses in Italy
Government buildings completed in 1974