Maddalena (Ligurian: Madænn-a) is a neighbourhood in the old town of the Italian city of Genoa. It was one of the six sestieri of ancient Genoa. At present it is part of the Genoa's city Municipio I (Centro Est).
Located close to the old harbour it had been for many centuries the seat of the economical power of the city.
The neighbourhood is located in the old town of Genoa, between Prè and Molo, in the semi-plain area immediately behind the harbour delimited by piazza Banchi at south-east and via Lomellini at north-west. A characteristic feature of this neighbourhood is the dense grid of alleys close via della Maddalena and via San Luca, upstream of which is via Garibaldi, the 16th-century "strada Nuova" ("new street"), with the luxurious palaces of the oligarchic families of the Republic of Genoa; the seafront of the neighbourhood is piazza Caricamento, in front of the old harbour.
The first settlings in this area dated to the 10th century, when some houses were built outside the walls, in areas at that time rural, around the churches of San Siro, the first cathedral of Genoa, and Santa Maria delle Vigne.[2] The urban growth incorporated these early settlements and in the 12th century both "civitas" (current Molo) and "burgus "(current Maddalena) were included within the new walls, known as Barbarossa’s walls.[2][3][4]
The feudal families had a key role in the development of the neighborhood; these families, constantly fighting each other, had their own private citadels in the alleys, each with a palace, a central square and sometimes a noble church, such as Spinola in San Luca and Calvi-Pallavicini in San Pancrazio. Alongside the feudal families, since the 13th century grew the importance of Arts and Crafts Associations, that give the names to some streets in the old town: today again many streets where craftsmen and tradesmen had their workshops are named after them, as a reference via degli Orefici (goldsmiths), piazza di Pellicceria (furriers), via dei Macelli di Soziglia (butchers) and vico dei Droghieri (grocers).[2]
In the 16th century upstream the neighborhood a luxurious residential settlement have been built. Along the "Strada Nuova" (now Via Garibaldi), opened close to the city walls, at the foot of the hill Castelletto where six of the most important Genoese families of that era (Doria, Grimaldi, Lomellini, Lercari, Pallavicini and Spinola) built their palaces.[4][5]
The neighbourhood had long the economical centre of the city, and its role was strengthened in the 19th century, when the 16th-century "Loggia of the Merchants" became the seat of the stock exchange. However at the beginning of the 20th century the business centre of Genoa moved to De Ferrari Square and a period of decline began for the whole old town. During World War II many buildings were severely damaged by bombings. After the war the lower-class district on the neighbourhood was populated by petty criminals and later by criminal organizations who made the neighbourhood the main prostitution centre in Genoa, causing the abandonment by most of the original inhabitants and the consequent degradation of the buildings.[6][7] During the first decade of the 21st century restructuring programs took place, and after many years of decline also these areas of the neighbourhood are showing signs of recovery.[8]
The strade nuove (new streets) cut their way across the whole neighbourhood above the alleys of the old town. They were opened between the 16th and 18th centuries to create a new upper-class residential district.[4][5]
Along Strada Nuova (now Garibaldi street) and Strada Nuovissima ("very new street", now Cairoli street) the most important Genoese families built their palaces, among the most luxurious of the whole city.[4]
Due to the slope of the land, the "upstream" palaces were built at different levels, typically with a marble staircase that from the entrance hall leads to a raised courtyard, generally surrounded by columns, from which other staircases reach the upper floors and the rear gardens.[3]
Via Garibaldi, Strada Nuova par excellence (this was officially its name until 1882), designed by Bernardino Cantone, was built between 1550 and 1588. It is 250 meters long and 7.5 meters wide. It was named after Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1882, soon after his death. Along this streets thirteen luxurious palaces overlook, and twelve of these are inscribed in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Site. Among them Palazzo Doria Tursi, now seat of the municipality of Genoa, Palazzo Bianco and Palazzo Rosso, which host an important art museum. The street had international fame also thanks to the painter Peter Paul Rubens who drew many of these buildings in the book Palazzi di Genova, published in Antwerp in 1622.[10][11]
Via Cairoli ("Strada Nuovissima"), designed by Gregorio Petondi was opened in 1786 as a continuation to the west of "Strada Nuova". The road is curved and ends in Largo della Zecca, where it joins the 17th-century "Strada Balbi" through the short via Bensa and Piazza della Nunziata.[4][12] The street is now named after Cairoli brothers, patriots and politician in the 19th century.
Piazza della Meridiana joins "Strada Nuova" and "Strada Nuovissima" and takes its name by the 18th century Gerolamo Grimaldi Palace, known as "Meridiana Palace", due to the sundial (in Italian Meridiana) painted on its façade.[3][5]
Piazza delle Fontane Marose, at the eastern end of via Garibaldi, takes its name by a monumental fountain, no longer existing, called fons marosus for its raging waters.[4][13] On the square there are several historic buildings, which are also inscribed in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Site.[4][5][14]
Piazza Caricamento was opened in the middle of the 19th century as the terminal railway station used for loading (in Italian caricamento) goods landed in the port.[4] Many vintage pictures show the square full of wagons waiting for loading or unloading goods.[15]
Sottoripa is a colonnaded street on the upstream border of the square, but it is much older than this. The porches were built between 1125 and 1133 and they were at that time directly overlooking the harbour. The porches are about 300 m long and occupy the entire sea front of the neighbourhood. Sottoripa means "below the bank", because the porticos foundations were literally below the level of the sea. Under the porches there were shops, workshops and fondachi, warehouses to store goods.[16]
The Rolli di Genova were, at the time of the Republic of Genoa, an official list of public lodging palaces of eminent Genoese families which aspired to host, by draw, foreign notable people visiting Genoa. Most of these buildings still exist, and in 2006 forty-two of them were inscribed by UNESCO in the list of World Heritage Site.
In Maddalena are 49 of these palaces (29 of which included in the list of World Heritage Site, included most of those of the "new streets").
Palace Pallavicini-Cambiaso in via Garibaldi
Palace Ambrogio Di Negro
Portal of the Palace Jacopo Spinola, by Pace Gaggini
Doria-Spinola Palace was built in 1543, likely by Bernardino Cantone, for the admiral Antonio Doria, but later became a property of the Spinola family. In the façades and in the loggia there are frescoes of famous artists of the 16th century. The western loggia was demolished in 1877 due to the opening of via Roma. Now the palace hosts the Prefettura (local office of the national government).
Loggia dei Mercanti, located in piazza Banchi, is a wide rectangular room with glass walls, designed at the end of the 16th century by Andrea Ceresola as venue for the trading of goods and currencies.[17][18] From 1855 to 1912 it was the seat of the Genoa stock exchange; during World War II the roof was severely damaged by bombings; since its restoration it is used as a venue for exhibitions and cultural events.
The neighbourhood was included in the 12th century Barbarossa's walls but almost nothing remains of them in this district, except the small Pastorezza gate, behind the "Meridiana Palace".
The three neighbourhoods of the old town of Genoa overlook the old harbour. The sea front of Maddalena coincides with the quays in front of Piazza Caricamento.[4]
In the Middle Ages the harbour was strictly linked to the city, but in 1536 new city walls were built that divided for a long time the city and the port.[4] Only in 1992, being unused this part of the port, in the meantime enlarged towards the west, this area was redeveloped by Renzo Piano and opened to public access during Genoa Expo '92 exhibition.[4][3]
The main tourist attraction in this section of the old harbour is the aquarium, in front of which there is the Biosphere, known commonly as la bolla (the bubble), a glass and steel structure hosting inside plants and animals of the rainforest, designed by Renzo Piano and built in 2001.[3][4]
Nearby the aquarium there is the Neptune, replica of a 17th-century galleon, built in 1986 for the Roman Polanski's film Pirates and now moored in the old harbour of Genoa as a tourist attraction.[19]
Museums of Strada Nuova. The galleries housed in the Palazzo Bianco, Palazzo Rosso and some rooms of Palazzo Doria Tursi together constitute since 2004 the "Museums of Strada Nuova". The museum tour starts from Palazzo Rosso, with paintings from the 15th to the 19th century and furniture from the 18th to the 20th century. In the Palazzo Bianco are displayed works by Italian, Flemish and Spanish artist from the 15th century onwards, among them an Ecce Homo by Caravaggio; in Palazzo Doria Tursi a Penitent Magdalene by Antonio Canova is exposed, in addition to the collections of ceramics, coins and the Cannone, the Paganini's violin, an 18th-century work by the luthierGiuseppe Antonio Guarneri, known as Guarneri del Gesù.
National Gallery of Palazzo Spinola [it] is located in the Palazzo Spinola di Pellicceria, a historic building in the alleys of the old town, donated in 1958 by the heirs of the Spinola to the Italian Government, with its furnishings and artworks. The gallery houses paintings by the greatest Genoese painters of the 16th and 17th century and artworks by important Italian and European artists, like an Ecce Homo by Antonello da Messina and the Equestrian portrait of Giovanni Carlo Doria by Pieter Paul Rubens.[4]
Museum of Risorgimento is located in via Lomellini 11, in the birth house of Giuseppe Mazzini, which houses Mazzini's relics and the historical archive of the Risorgimento of the city of Genoa, including collections of books, documents and images related to the Risorgimento and the Italian Wars of Independence.[4][20]
In the neighbourhood there are some of the oldest churches in Genoa.
Santa Maria delle Vigne. The Basilica of Santa Maria delle Vigne (St. Mary of the Vineyards) was built by some ancestors of Spinola at the end of the 10th century in the same place where a 6th-century chapel existed, outside the Carolingian city walls, at that time a rural zone with vineyards (in Italian "vigne", hence the name). In the 12th century it was included within the new "Barbarossa's walls" and became a parish church. It was modified several times and in the late 16th century the original Romanesque church was transformed in Baroque style by Daniele Casella. The bell tower is the only preserved part of the original building. In the 19th century the church had a new Neoclassicist façade, designed by Ippolito Cremona. Many art works, mainly by Genoese artists from 17th to 19th centuries are preserved inside the church.[4][21]
San Siro was also built in the same place where another 6th-century chapel existed. The church, devoted to the Holy Apostles, was later dedicated to Syrus, one of the first bishops of Genoa, who lived in the 4th century, and was the cathedral of Genoa until the 10th century, when the bishop's seat was moved to the new church of San Lorenzo, less exposed to Saracen raids because included within the city walls. At the beginning of the 11th century it was given to Benedictines who built a new Romanesque church. In the 16th century it was entrusted to the Theatines who rebuilt it in Baroque style thanks to the financing of the noble families who had the giuspatronato of the chapels inside of the church. In the 19th century the church had a new Neoclassicist façade. The Romanesque bell tower was demolished in 1904 because it was unsafe and never rebuilt.[4][22][23]
Santa Maria Maddalena (Genoa) [it], commonly known as the "Church of the Magdalene", which gives its name to the neighborhood, was built at the end of the 16th century in the place of an older chapel, and since 1572 was a parish church entrusted before to the Theatines and three years later to the Somasca Fathers, which still officiate in the church. The rebuilding, designed by Andrea Ceresola were completed in 1661.[4][24]
Giuseppe Mazzini (1805-1872), activist of Italian unification and founder of Giovine Italia, was born in via Lomellini; his house is now seat of the Museum of Risorgimento
Giacomo Della Chiesa (pope Benedict XV, 1854-1922), lived in Maddalena till his 21 years and he was baptized in the Basilica of Santa Maria delle Vigne.[21]
Marco Doria (1957), mayor of Genoa from 2012 to 2017; he lives in Maddalena
Many families who gave over the centuries an important contribution to the history of the Republic of Genoa had in Maddalena their palaces and business, among them Spinola, Calvi, De Franchi, Di Negro, Finamore, Grimaldi, Grillo, Senarega, Pallavicini, Pinelli and Usodimare.
Maddalena (Ligurian: Madænn-a) is a neighbourhood in the old town of the Italian city of Genoa. It was one of the six sestieri of ancient Genoa. At present...
order of size, are: Caprera, Spargi, Santo Stefano, SantaMaria, Budelli and Razzoli. Only Maddalena, Caprera, and Santo Stefano are inhabited; Budelli...
refer to: SantaMariaMaddalena in Rome La Maddalena, Venice La Maddalena, a commune in Sardinia, Italy Maddalena (Genoa), a neighborhood in Genoa, Italy...
San Pietro in Banchi, SantaMaria delle Vigne, Nostra Signora della Consolazione, San Siro, SantaMariaMaddalena [it], SantaMaria Assunta di Carignano...
the Church of SantaMaria delle Vigne and the Pre-Molo-Maddalena district. After the revitalization of the area that occurred with the Genoa Expo '92, the...
1861. The current denomination dates from 1863. Parish church of SantaMariaMaddalena (17th century). Romanesque church of San Calogero (11th century)...
small Vittone church of SantaMariaMaddalena, Alba. The History of Painting in Italy: The schools of Bologna, Ferrara, Genoa by Luigi Lanzi, page 316...
5225 Thlr., Maria Antonia Laurenti, genannt Coralli – 2375 Thlr., die Altistin Vittoria Tesi – 2375 Thlr., Madelaine du Salvay (MariaMaddalena Salvai) –...
SantaMaria delle Vigne is a Roman Catholic basilica church in Genoa, Italy. It was built in the 10th century. The main altar was completed in 1730 by...
of SantaMaria in Passione in www.stoarte.unige.it Federico Alizeri, "Guida artistica per la città di Genova" ("Artistic guide of the city of Genoa"),...
a painter, sculptor and architect. In Genoa his frescoes are to be seen in the Church of SantaMariaMaddalena, but he spent most of career in Milan and...
worked in a vineyard. She was the eldest of ten children of Joseph and Maddalena Calcagno Mazzarelli. When she was fifteen she had joined the Association...
was forced to marry his heir, Cosimo, to MariaMaddalena of Austria to assuage Spain (where MariaMaddalena's sister Margaret was the incumbent Queen consort)...
The Lighthouse of Genoa (Italian: Lanterna di Genova), known as La Lanterna, is the main lighthouse serving the Port of Genoa. Besides being an important...
Elder) and a slave-woman named Maddalena, who was said to have been purchased in Venice. It is widely accepted that Maddalena was a Circassian, as hinted...
two - year period, construction work began on the Basilica of SantaMaria Assunta, Genoa, work by Galeazzo Alessi. At the end of the dogate he held the...
was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She was born Rosa Maria Segale in 1850 in Cicagna, Genoa, then part of the Kingdom of Sardinia. She emigrated at...
Genoa, he painted a Comparsa della Madonna in collaboration with Giovanni Andrea Carlone. He painted a San Carlo Borromeo for SantaMariaMaddalena in...
Assunta La Spezia, Tremossi di Borzonasca (Province of Genoa), Caregli, Church of SantaMariaMaddalena Castelnuovo Magra (Province of La Spezia), Annunziata...
Was Napoleon Bonaparte born French and was he really short?
Click Image to Enlarge.
Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) revolutionized warfare and changed Europe radically. Born in Ajaccio on the island of Corsica in 1769, he was the third son of Carlo Bonaparte. A copy of his birth certificate bears the mention "Giuseppo Nabulione Buonaparte". The Christian name Napoleon was given in memory of an uncle who died in 1767. Fifteen months before Napoleon's birth, the Republic of Genoa transferred on 15 May 1768 its sovereign rights over Corsica to the King of France. The definitive sovereignty was transferred just in time for the future general of the French revolutionary armies and Emperor, not to be born, neither Genoese, nor Corsican, but French. At the age of ten, Bonaparte arrived at the Royal Military School of Brienne, and spent five years studying there to become an artillery officer. He was commissioned at the age of 16 years and 15 days. For a time, Napoleon exercised his hegemony over a large part of Europe. It was only after the Battle of the Nations in Leipzig that French troops were forced in October 1813 to conduct a withdrawal, outnumbered by the coalition armies of Austria, Prussia, Russia and Sweden. On 2 April 1814, the French Senate forced Napoleon to abdicate, and into exile, to rule the small Island of Elba. Ten months later, Emperor Napoleon I tried to regain power rapidly joined by veterans and followers. His fall was definitively sealed in 1815 when his troops were defeated at the Battle of Waterloo. The dazzling rise of the "Little Corporal" was stopped by another European figure, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852), nicknamed the "Iron Duke".
Napoleon still inspires devotion and hatred for winning a series of striking battles. At the height of his power, he ruled over 70 million people. Curiously, he is remembered for being short. In fact, this military genius was 1.70 m tall (5 feet 7 inches), no shorter than the average 1.65 m Frenchman. It's all about comparison. The Imperial Guard men had to be at least 1.70 m tall. Many were over 1.80 m (5 feet 11 inches) making Napoleon a small man by the waist among his soldiers. In addition, there was a difference in height between Napoleon's simple bicorne and the marshal's hats with white feathers, still playing against the Emperor. This is how the legend was created. In comparison, Wellington was about 1.75 m (5 feet 9 inches). Two great figures of European history, but as Napoleon himself put it "There is no immortality but the memory that is left in the minds of people".
The year 2019 is an interesting commemorative milestone as it marks the 250th birth anniversaries of both Napoleon and Wellington. On 3 April 2019, a first tribute – organized by the 'Souvenir Napoléonnien' – was celebrated in Paris in memory of Napoleon at the Church of La Madeleine, located next to Place de la Concorde. Songs, readings and music offered an array of the Emperor's youth, based on letters and writings that were read by Robert Hossein (30 December 1927 – ), French film actor, director, and writer. The location may surprise many since the Emperor's sarcophagus, designed by French architect Louis Visconti (11 February 1791 – 29 December 1853), is located under the dome of the Church of Saint-Louis des Invalides. Although Napoleon considered many projects during his reign, the Invalides was to become a temple of war, not his mausoleum. He only wished in his last will that "[his] ashes may repose on the banks of the Seine, in the midst of the French people, whom [he has] loved so well." So why this choice? This man of ambition used and acknowledged the zeal of his soldiers. On 2 December 1806, an imperial decree launched a competition for "the construction of a temple to the glory of the French army on the [old church] site of the Madeleine". Napoleon's aim was to celebrate the achievements of his armies and veterans.
As this neoclassical jewel – designed by Pierre-Alexandre Vignon (1763 – 1828) – with its dome, paintings, and names of the men who took part in the battles of Ulm, Austerlitz and Iena (1805 – 1806) was nearly completed at the time of Napoleon's ashes being returned to the Invalides, it is most appropriate that the Church of the Madeleine was chosen to launch the anniversary tribute to a man who could not have shaped the world according to his personal vision without his soldiers. Shown in the photograph is the Church’s cupola of the choir which displays a mural entitled "The History of Christianity" (1835 – 1838). Completed by French painter Jules-Claude Ziegler (16 March 1804 – 25 December 1856), it illustrates Mary Magdalene ascending into heaven borne by three angels. "Beneath her is Napoleon in his coronation robes, positioned center stage, his figure directly aligned with Christ’s. Facing him is Pope Pius VII, with whom he signed the Concordat of 1801, a document which re-established the authority of the Catholic church in France after the Revolution…". This is the only fresco in a Parisian church to include a figure of Napoleon. It is worth noting that it took more than three decades from the time Napoleon awarded the building contract to the completion of this mural during the July Monarchy (1830 – 1848) under King Louis-Philippe I (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850).
Also, while it is not known if an official commemorative ceremony was held for the 250th anniversary of Napoleon’s birth on 15 August 2019, there was a public event organized – 'La Nuit aux Invalides' – held from 12 July until 31 August 2019.
On this day, 15 August 2022, we celebrate the 253rd anniversary of the birth of Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French.
The house is located outside Genoa's 14th-century walls. During the Renaissance, the area became subject to intense building, mainly consisting of public housing.[2]
Columbus was born in 1451, and historical documents indicated that Columbus lived here between approximately 1455 and 1470. At this time, the house had two or maybe three stories, with a shop on the ground floor, and the front door to the left of the shop.[2]
According to historian Marcello Staglieno, the original house was most likely destroyed in the French Bombardment of Genoa in 1684. It was rebuilt in the early 18th century on the basis of the original ruins.[3] The rebuilt structure had a height of five stories. However, the upper stories were built by placing their beams on the neighboring buildings. When the neighboring buildings were demolished around 1900, as part of the construction of Via XX Settembre, the upper stories of this building were removed, and it was reduced to its current height of two stories.[4]
Currently the building operates as a museum, under the management of the "Porta Soprana" Genovese cultural association. Its central location and nearby parking make it a popular meeting place for the Genovese.[2]
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