Via Balbi is a street in the historical centre 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 ...

, in Northwestern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, named after the aristocratic Genoese Balbi family. It is one of the ''Strade Nuove'' (Italian for "new streets") built by the Genoese aristocracy during the Renaissance. Since July 2006 it is inscribed in the list of UNESCO

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

Genoa: the Strade Nuove and the system of the Palazzi dei Rolli.

History

Formerly known as ''Strada Balbi'', the street was built between 1602 and 1620 as a cooperation between the city authorities and the Balbi family to improve the connection between the city center and the area around the harbor. Between the first half of the 16th century and the first half of the 17th century, the nobility of the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

started a careful town planning to transform the existing medieval city and initiate a sizeable urban expansion to the North. The move to expand the antique palaces and to build new sumptuous ones was driven by the extraordinary wealth that came into the city through prosperous financing activities towards several European powers. In particular, the Genoese aristocracy financed the expensive undertakings of the Spanish Crown, such as the mercenary army that Spain kept in Flanders from 1566 to the peace of Westphalia in 1648. The ruling class of Genoa, mixing nobility of blood with new mercantile wealth, sought to underpin their prestige by the construction of grand city palaces and suburban villas of unusual splendor. The first stretch of the street includes seven palaces, all formerly owned by the Balbi family, the former Collegium of the Jesuits (now the main seat of the University of Genoa) with the church of San Girolamo e Francesco Saverio and the Carmelite church of San Vittore e Carlo. The final stretch, which used to count eight 17th century monasteries, was modified in the 19th century, when the nearby train station of Genova Principe was built.

Palaces listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Quotes

Stendhal Marie-Henri Beyle (; 23 January 1783 – 23 March 1842), better known by his pen name Stendhal (, , ), was a French writer. Best known for the novels ''Le Rouge et le Noir'' ('' The Red and the Black'', 1830) and ''La Chartreuse de Parme'' ('' T ...

, describes via Balbi and ''Le Strade Nuove'' as the most beautiful in Italy *

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

gave a suggestive description of Strada Balbi in his travelogue Pictures from Italy.

Gallery

File:Via balbi 02.jpg File:Via balbi 01.jpg File:DSCF8182.JPG File:Chiesa dei Santi Gerolamo e Francesco Saverio.jpg File:Genova - Colonnato interno palazzo di via Balbi - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto.jpg File:Centre et vieille-ville Gênes 1864 (8195516751).jpg File:Genova - Via Balbi - panoramio.jpg File:Genova, Loggiato in via Balbi - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, maggio 2005.jpg File:Palazzo Balbi Senarega (Genova) 01.jpg File:Palazzo Balbi Senarega (Genova) 16.jpg File:Genova-AP-1010529.jpg

References

Bibliography

* Giorgio Doria (1995), ''Nobiltà e investimenti a Genova in Età moderna'', Genova * Gioconda Pomella (2007), ''Guida Completa ai Palazzi dei Rolli Genova'', Genova, De Ferrari Editore() * Mauro Quercioli (2008), ''I Palazzi dei Rolli di Genova'', Roma, Libreria dello Stato () * Fiorella Caraceni Poleggi (2001), Palazzi Antichi e Moderni di Genova raccolti e disegnati da Pietro Paolo Rubens (1652), Genova, Tormena Editore () * Mario Labò (2003), I palazzi di Genova di P.P. Rubens, Genova, Nuova Editrice Genovese

External links

{{Lists of World Heritage Sites Streets in Genoa Buildings and structures in Genoa Tourist attractions in Genoa