Orlando organised a unique experience among 16th century palaces, hanging gardens, frescoes and historical boutiques.

Ready to lose yourself in the Genoa vicoli (narrow streets)?

First Stop: Palazzo Durazzo Suites

12 rooms of absolute luxury and design, are housed in a 16th-century palace, one of the Palazzi dei Rolli, i.e., inscribed in some rolls (rolli) listing the names of illustrious palaces, ready to host high-ranking guests, kings, princes and international nobles, visiting Genoa.

The suites are decorated with unique pieces of art and design, from the Cattaneo Adorno family’s private collection of ceramics, to a room decorated with seashells, to contemporary canopies, to rooms inspired by the world of music and the Genoese song tradition

Second Stop: Palazzo Lauro

Palazzo Lauro is named after its post-World War II owner, ship-owner Achille Lauro, who established the offices of his naval fleet here. Lauro had the palace restored by the architect Robaldo Morozzo della Rocca, who embellished the building with precious materials and frescoes inspired by the maritime republics, in which the figure of Neptune, an allegory of Achille Lauro (an iconography already dear to Andrea Doria), emerges. The Passenger Office sign is still there to remind us of the history of this hidden gem.

Passing by the Church of San Siro, dating back to the 4th century, Genoa’s first cathedral before San Lorenzo, we walked along Via San Luca, where the palaces of the Spinola and Grimaldi families alternate, then we passed the Church of San Luca, the aristocratic parish church of the Spinola family, to reach Piazza Banchi, where the first moneychangers of Italy held their stalls to establish the Bank of Italy.

We crossed Via Orefici, named after the guilds/antique trades, where a magnificent medieval bas-relief above a Swiss knife shop stands out, and came to Piazza dell’Amor Perfetto, a small hidden square, famous for the tragic love story between Tommasina Spinola and King Louis XII. They met at a ball when Louis XII was in Genoa. She was married but they fell in love immediately, platonically. She heard the false news of his death in battle and let herself die of grief. Louis returned to Genoa to pay his respects to his beloved and under the windows of that square said: ‘this would have been a perfect love’.

Third stop: Romanengo 1780

The oldest confectioner’s shop in Italy, Romanengo is famous for its candied fruits, rosolio drops, wooden boxes of chocolates and confectionery, covered with beautiful antique prints of Genoa. The packaging with double paper, the first white and the second blue, sealed with white thread, are iconic of the Superb city.

Fourth Stop: Pescetto

Pescetto was founded in 1899 by Giuseppe Nicolò Pescetto, in Via San Lorenzo as a haberdashery and luxury shirt factory.

A long-distance captain who rounded Cape Horn three times, he lived with his wife and first children in Tacna, Chile back then and now Peru, bought and managed a fazenda and then returned to his homeland.

The Pescetto shop distinguished itself during the 20th century thanks to Giuseppe Nicolò Pescetto’s youngest son, Mario Pescetto, the last of 9 children, who made the shop a milestone in Italian fashion. He was born in 1913 and one of his peculiarity was that he ordered each item for the store in the quantity of 13. On the first floor of the shop is an endless selection of new, never-worn vintage garments, from Burberry to Aquascutum, Hermès to Church’s shoes, timeless brands that are bought by contemporary fashion designers who seek inspiration from the Pescetto archives.

We left Piazza Campetto, taking a peek at the Galleria Imperiale, an antiques shop located inside the frescoed Palazzo Imperiale, to head down Via Garibaldi, known as Strada Nuova, where the most beautiful Palazzi Rolli reside.

Fifth Stop: Palazzo Lomellino

This elegant palace was decorated with frescoes by Bernardo Strozzi, one of the most famous artists of the 17th century. The frescos in this palace were the source of a dispute between the artist and the client: the former wanted to be paid and the latter did not want to pay because the artist had only done a couple of rooms and not all of them as planned.

The palace is famous for its splendid blue/lilac colouring, its hanging gardens with nymphaeum, sculptures and hidden grottos and the miradore lighthouse from which illustrious guests could enjoy an unprecedented view of Genoa from the rooftops.

Sixth Stop: Via Garibaldi 12

“All department stores will become museums, and all museums will become department stores.” Andy Warhol aveva previsto il future di questo unico negozio di Design che ha sede presso Palazzo Campanella, del XVI secolo.

The Bagnara family, who is in charge here, directed the renovation made by the Lebanese architect William Sawaya and the store opened in 2001. Buyers can venture on a marble staircase to discover the treasury of home furnishings distributed in eight rooms enriched with baroque decorations in stucco, frescoes with scenes from the Punic Wars treasured in the Sala Zecchini, a triumph of gold and mirrors, decorated by Charles de Wailly, who worked also at Versailles. The store has become the preferred destination for design enthusiasts and those wishing to decorate their home with gorgeous and stylish design and art items. Here buyers find modern furniture, crockery and glasses of famous international brands, alongside the corners dedicated to gardening, electronics and household appliances.

Seventh Stop: Les Rouges

We concluded our Genoese Experience over a special drink: the Genoese Spritz, created by the skilful hands of the guys at Les Rouges: a refined cocktail bar, also set in the 500-year-old Imperial Palace, decorated with paintings by Tamara de Lempicka. The name comes from a characteristic shared by the three brothers who run the bar: red hair. Yonatan, Yoel and Benny run this bartending gem, thanks to their international vision and tradition: of Israeli origin, they have lived between Paris, London and Genoa.

You can also find a second Les Rouges bar in Milan. In both Genoa and Milan, the mixology proposal is very sophisticated, with local raw materials, and the wine selection caters to the natural world with interesting goodies.