Genoa, Rolli Days palace tours return: new features include a queue-cutting system

In Genoa, Oct. 9-11, Rolli Days, the traditional event that opens the doors of the city’s historic palaces, returns.The fall 2020 edition comes after the first “digital” edition, last May’s spring edition, which was proposed in this new form to address the Covid-19 health emergency. Rolli Days Digital Week in May proved to be a success, but seeing the palaces live is still a different matter, and the public will finally be able to visit them again in October, of course in compliance with ongoing medical-health requirements.

Specifically, an online reservation will be required for entry to each site, which will then be accessible at set times; visits will last about 30 minutes each, for groups of limited size: this will eliminate any risk of crowding and erase waiting time in line. Visitors will therefore need to book their visit to each individual palace or site in advance: the organization therefore recommends that visitors plan their experience carefully, taking into account visiting times and distances between palaces in order to carefully consider which and how many palaces to visit. To increase the possibility of visits, many of the sites open for Rolli Days October 2020 will be open as early as the afternoon and evening of Friday, October 9. As usual, visits to the palaces will be led by specially trained and selected science popularizers to offer the public the best compromise between scientific research and communication suitable for all.

Here are the palaces and sites that will be open for this edition: Palazzo Antonio Doria - Prefecture (Largo Lanfranco 1) Palazzo Tobia Pallavicino - Chamber of Commerce (Via Garibaldi 4), Palazzo Angelo Giovanni Spinola (Via Garibaldi 5), Palazzo Gio Battista Spinola (Via Garibaldi 6), Palazzo Nicolosio Lomellino (Via Garibaldi 7 - entrance fee), Palazzo Nicolò Grimaldi-Palazzo Tursi (Musei di Strada Nuova, Via Garibaldi 9), Palazzo Luca Grimaldi-Palazzo Bianco (Musei di Strada Nuova, Via Garibaldi 11), Palazzo Gerolamo Grimaldi - della Meridiana (Salita San Francesco 4 - entrance fee), Palazzo Stefano Balbi (Museo di Palazzo Reale, Via Balbi 10), Palazzo Giacomo e Pantaleo Balbi - Balbi Senarega (Via Balbi 4), Palazzo dell’Ateneo (Via Balbi 5), Palazzo Cesare Durazzo (Via del Campo 12), Palazzo Francesco Grimaldi - National Galleries of Palazzo Spinola (Piazza Pellicceria 1), Palazzo Ambrogio di Negro (Via San Luca 2). The following will also be open to visitors: the Villa del Principe (Piazza del Principe 4), the Albergo dei Poveri (Piazzale Emanuele Brignole 2), the Carlo Felice Theater (Passo Eugenio Montale 4), the Headquarters of Banca Carige and part of its collections (via Cassa di Risparmio 15), and the Genoa State Archives, with a display of the original documents of the Palazzi dei Rolli (Piazza Sana Maria in via Lata 7).

The main novelty of the fall 2020 edition of Rolli Days, in addition to the aforementioned queue-cutter system, will be the hybridization of the experience. In fact, there will not only be live visits: given the success of the digital edition, “virtual” guided tours of palaces that would otherwise be difficult to access, especially at this historical moment, will be offered in October as well. There are three sites in particular that will be digitally visitable: Palazzo Agostino Ayrolo today Negrone (with a focus on the extraordinary Gallery, one of the most significant and evocative places of seventeenth-century Genoa: painted by Giovanni Battista Carlone in the mid-17th century, a few years before he embarked on the undertaking of the Doge’s Chapel, it depicts the Myth of Aeneas with very special episodes related to the history of the family, after which, in the 17th century, it was enriched by the interventions of Cornelis De Wael and Bartolomeo Guidobono); Palazzo Ottavio Imperiale, later Sauli and De Mari, known as “del Melograno” (built in the 1680s for Ottavio Imperiale, included by Rubens in the volume on the Palaces of Genoa published in Antwerp in 1622, the palace preserves important frescoes by Domenico Piola and the Guidobono family, as well as some absolutely prestigious Baroque sculptures, such as Filippo Parodi’s Hercules with the Hesperides Pomes; moreover, in the early seventeenth century, when the Sauli family lived there, Orazio Gentileschi painted some canvases here: his Danae, painted for Genoa, was purchased a few years ago for $30 million by the Getty in Los Angeles); theAbbey of San Nicolò del Boschetto (the monastic complex, founded in the 14th century in a strategic position high above the Polcevera Valley, over the centuries has seen many families of the Genoese aristocracy intervene in its decoration, from the Grimaldi to the Spinola, the Doria, and the Lercari, generally also owners of Palazzi dei Rolli: the relationship between the Genoese aristocracy and this place, where some of the most precious examples of 15th-century Genoese sculpture are still preserved, will be traced by following its historical events and exploring some significant artistic personalities who worked there).

Then there will be unpublished digital content on Christopher Columbus, which will tell who the man was, his history, his life as a “Genoese,” his education, his travels, his motivations and his actions, for better or worse, before and after the voyage that revolutionized world history forever. The new content will aim to give back to the Columbus character his real dimension, thanks to the documents and research of historians. The video will also be an opportunity to discover the most significant “Columbusian” places in the city, including Palazzi dei Rolli from the early 17th century and more recent memories. In addition, a panel portrait of Christopher Columbus attributed to Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio will be exhibited in Via Garibaldi, on the piano nobile of Palazzo Nicolosio Lomellino Centurione Podestà: painted in 1520 and thus a few years after his death, it is probably the best-known image of the navigator. The painting will be displayed below the Columbus-themed frescoes executed by painter Bernardo Strozzi. The frescoes were painted in the early seventeenth century for the Centurione family, which was probably among the financiers of the Columbian enterprise; long thought to be lost, they were rediscovered in the 2000s thanks to a restoration project. A quite exceptional event, organized thanks to the collaboration of the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the metropolitan city of Genoa, the Galata - Museo del Mare and the Palazzo Lomellino Association.

Finally, the appointment with great dance in the Palazzi dei Rolli is renewed: Jacopo Bellussi, Genoese prima ballet dancer of the Hamburg Ballet, has in fact given his city a choreography dedicated to the Palazzi dei Rolli. Paired with Yun Su Park, also a dancer of the Hamburg Ballet, he created a magical event, dancing a true story in the spaces of the Palazzi dei Rolli, from the halls of Palazzo Angelo Giovanni Spinola, to the Galleria Dorata of Palazzo Tobia Pallavicino, from the atrium of Palazzo Spinola Doria, to the garden of Palazzo Lomellino and the courtyard of Palazzo Tursi. Another high quality content that will embellish the digital part of Rolli Days Genova October 2020.

For all updates on the program, how to book and side events, the site to visit is Visit Genoa. The event will be promoted on the Visit Genoa and Genovamorethanthis Facebook pages and Instagram channel @Genovamorethanthis. Official hashtags: #RolliDays and #Genovamorethanthis. Rolli Days Genova October 2020 is an event promoted and organized by Comune di Genova, in collaboration with Palazzo Ducale Fondazione per la Cultura, Camera di Commercio di Genova, Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali - Segretariato Regionale della Liguria, Associazione dei Rolli della Repubblica Genovese and Università degli Studi di Genova. Institutional Sponsors of the event: Iren Group; Esselunga. Main Sponsor: Banca Carige. Sponsor: Metinvest Group; Supporter: Spinelli Group - Finsea Group. Radio Monte Carlo is a media partner of the city of Genoa. Radio Monte Carlo has exclusively selected a playlist to accompany the virtual visits to the dwellings of the Rolli in an even more evocative way. It can be listened to here.

Pictured: Palazzo Giovanni Battista Spinola

Genoa, Rolli Days palace tours return: new features include a queue-cutting system

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