Foto: The city hall is located in one of the Rolli palaces (bron: Ronald van der Veer)
Italy - Along the Via Garibaldi, the palaces of Genoa stand in a row. In 1576, the Republic of Genoa compiled a list of the city’s most important noble palaces. The palaces on this list, the Palazzi dei Rolli, had the privilege of hosting state guests. Most of these palaces date from the 16th to 18th centuries. The buildings on this list were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2006. Palazzo Rosso and Palazzo Bianco can be visited as museums. Unfortunately, both are closed on Mondays. The city hall, also located in a former palace, is open. A security guard gestures that we may enter. From the balustrade on the first floor, we can admire the splendor of this palace. Behind Via Garibaldi, a funicular runs to the higher part of Genoa. It’s temporarily free to use. We get on. It turns out face masks are still required on public transport. We don’t have any. Maskless, we ride to the top. From the plateau, we have a view over the city. We see the old town and the church towers we passed earlier. In the distance, we also spot Palazzo Principe, a palace that is open to the public on Mondays. Before heading there, we grab something to eat and drink. Today it’s thirty degrees and oppressively hot. The palace is about a 30-minute walk away. To avoid the busy highway, we take the narrower side streets. Here we also walk in the shade. However, these turn out to be the very streets Gaia advised us not to visit at night. Even during the day, it feels uncomfortable. Groups of loitering youths dominate the scene. We decide to continue along the main road. When we spot the Dinegro metro station, we’re surprised to discover we’ve passed the palace. As we walk back, it turns out we walked right past the entrance. The Villa del Principe, as it's officially called, was built in 1521 at the request of an admiral of Emperor Charles V. The palace was constructed outside the city walls, even before the Palazzi dei Rolli. There are a total of twenty rooms—ten in the women’s wing and ten in the men’s. The rooms are stunning and provide a glimpse into 16th-century life.
Florence
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The Ancient City of Pompeii
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The Cinque Terre fishing villages
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The Colosseum
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The Leaning Tower of Pisa
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The Monastery of San Fruttuoso
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The old district of Naples
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The Vesuvius volcano
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Venice
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