Page 59 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Italian Riviera

IL CENTRO ST ORIC O  57

VISITORS’ CHECKLIST
Practical Information
Piazza San Lorenzo.
Map 5 C3.
Tel 010 247 18 31.
Church: Open 8am–noon, 3–7pm.
Museo del Tesoro: Open 9am–
noon, 3–6pm Mon–Sat. & 7
8 by appt. =

. Cappella di San Giovanni Battista
This chapel, dedicated to St John the Baptist,
was the work of Domenico and Elia Gagini
(mid-1400s). It is richly decorated with marble
and topped with flamboyant Gothic detailing.
Reliefs on the front of the chapel illustrate
the life of the Baptist. Inside, are six wall
niches with statues, and the stone reliquary
that once held the supposed ashes of the
saint (see below).

. Museo del Tesoro
Opened in the 1950s, this unusual museum was the work
of Caterina Marcenaro and Franco Albini, and is one of
the most elegant of its kind. Built underground near the
chancel, the wonderfully atmospheric museum is covered in
Promontorio stone, the dark construction material typical of medieval
Genoa. Within this charming framework, picked out by spotlights, are
displayed objects brought back during the Republic’s forays into the
Holy Land. Among the highlights are the Sacro Catino, a 9th-century
Islamic glass vessel, once believed to be the Holy Grail, used
by Christ at the Last Supper; the Croce degli Zaccaria, a 12th- La Croce degli
cen tury Byzantine reliquary made of gold and gemstones; the Zaccaria
cope of Pope Gelasio, in brocade fabric with gold and silver
thread (15th century); and the elaborately embossed silver chest (12th century),
which contains the supposed ashes of St John the Baptist, and which is carried
in procession through the streets of Genoa on 24 June.

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