Page 58 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Italian Riviera

56  GENO A AREA B Y AREA

1 San Lorenzo

The church of San Lorenzo (St Lawrence) was founded in the 9th century
and was chosen as the cathedral because of its secure position within the
city walls. Romanesque-style reconstruction began in the 12th century but
was never completed. The cathedral’s present, primarily Gothic appearance,
including the lower part of the cheerfully striped façade, dates from the
13th century. Important alterations followed later, however, mainly in the
15th to 17th centuries: these include the rose window in the upper part of
the façade, the Renaissance cupola by Galeazzo Alessi and the beautifully
frescoed Lercari chapel. The symbol of St Lawrence (Genoa’s patron saint,
along with St John the Baptist) is the purse, a fact that prompts much
teasing of the Genoese, who are famous for being frugal with money.

. Sculptures at Main Entrance
Sculptures on medieval church
doors introduced the faithful
to important doctrinal
subjects. Here, fine
Romanesque bas-
reliefs illustrate Stories
from the life of Mary
and the Tree of Jesse,
on the jambs; and
Christ blessing, the
symbols of the
Evangelists and
the Martyrdom
of San Lorenzo,
in the lunette.

KEY
1 Marble pillars
2 The rose window was rebuilt
in 1869; from the 1476 original.
The symbols of the four Evangelists
remain.
3 The bell tower was created
from the right-hand tower in the
16th century.
4 Dome by Galeazzo Alessi
(1556)
5 The vault of the presbytery
and the apse bears two frescoes by
Lazzaro Tavarone (San Lorenzo and
the Church treasury, Martyrdom of the
Saint, 1622–4); in the apse is a lovely
16th-century wooden choir.
6 In the right-hand apse, in the
Senarega chapel, is Crucifix with Mary,
John and St Sebastian by Federico The Lions
Barocci (1597). Two 19th-century lion sculptures
7 Romanesque blind arches flank the main steps. A pair of
Romanesque lions can also
8 Black-and-white striped arches be seen on the edges
of the façade.
For hotels and restaurants in this area see p180 and pp188–9

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