Via Giuseppe Garibaldi

Street Genoa, Italy

The first example of subdivision at European level, Via Giuseppe Garibaldi (in te Stradde Nêuve in Ligurian) presents a stylistic and conception uniqueness that already made it internationally famous. Pieter Paul Rubens studied its palaces, and his designs contributed to the diffusion of the Renaissance style in Northern Europe. In reality, the initial construction was that of a new residential district for the great Genoese families who abandoned the medieval districts for a new lifestyle based on less opposition. The construction of the entire group of buildings lasted about forty years and the realization of the project is due to the extremely wealthy Grimaldi family who also acquired the larger area. The most infamous area of the city was transformed into the most privileged area and from a constructive point of view, for the first time, building problems connected with the construction of such a complex of buildings on the coast above the port were resolved. Via Garibaldi was designed by Bernardino Cantoni, architect of the Municipality of Genoa and pupil of Galeazzo Alessi, whose documented presence in Genoa in that period, it can be argued that he himself had a decisive influence on the pupil; especially for the concept of the work that reveals the genius of a great artist, also because Bernardino Cantoni and in Palazzo Cicala, built in 1542 in the square dell'Agnello, shows a disharmonious way and a very archaic taste, not was able to reach such a high and complete maturity in so few years that instead it shows the then called Strada Nuova. Via Garibaldi is one of the main streets of Genoa and one of the largest in the entire historic center from an architectural point of view due to the magnificent impact of its buildings, some of which are included in the appropriate Rolli. The road has a precise year of birth: 1550. Originally Strada Maggiore, then Strada Nuova, until the 19th century it was known by the name of Via Aurea. Madame de Staël gave it an even more high-sounding name: that of Rue des Rois, the street of the Kings. In 1882 it was finally dedicated to Giuseppe Garibaldi. It is completely straight, with a slight slope, and is 250 meters long and 7.5 meters wide; it was born as a representative street. There are many testimonies on this road left by famous visitors over the years and among these particularly significant is that of Cesare Brandi who in the post-war period expressed himself authoritatively for its redevelopment Since 13 July 2006 it has been included - together with the entire Rolli system - among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.