Palazzo Ducale

Palazzo Ducale, on Piazza Matteotti in Genoa's Centro Storico, was the seat of the Doge and the government of the Republic of Genoa until the Republic fell in 1797. The earliest core dates from 1291, when the Genoese commune built a public palace on the site, and the complex grew through the medieval and Renaissance periods as the Republic's power expanded across the Mediterranean. From 1591 the architect Andrea Vannone remodelled it into a more monumental Late Renaissance residence with grand courtyards and ceremonial halls. A fire in 1777 damaged much of the building, and the architect Simone Cantoni rebuilt large parts and designed the Neoclassical facade completed between 1778 and 1783, which is the face visitors see today. The result is a layered building in which the Late Renaissance courtyards and atria meet a Neoclassical exterior. Among the preserved spaces are the Salone del Maggior Consiglio and the Salone del Minor Consiglio, which served as the chambers of the Republic's councils, along with chapels and rooms used for state ceremony. After the end of the Republic the palace served as a court and administrative building, and it fell into a period of decline before a long restoration programme in the late 20th century converted it into a major cultural centre. Today it functions less as a conventional museum with a fixed permanent display than as a venue for rotating exhibitions, conferences and events, so the curatorial approach is thematic and changes with each programme. The courtyards are open to the public and give an immediate sense of the scale of the Republic's ambitions, while the ticketed exhibitions often cover art, photography and history. Restoration has returned the structure to a sound state and made much of it accessible. The palace stands a few steps from the cathedral and from Piazza De Ferrari, making it a natural starting point for understanding Genoa's political history and the world of the doges, whose terms were limited and whose city became one of Europe's wealthiest maritime republics.