Page 82 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Italian Riviera

80  GENO A AREA B Y AREA

8 Santissima and Assumption), by Giulio Benso,
Annunziata del are placed within a grandiose
Vastato painted architectural framework.
Piazza della Nunziata 4. 9 Albergo dei
Map 5 B1. Tel 010 246 55 25.
Open 7:30am–8pm Mon–Fri, Poveri
7:30am–1pm, 3–8:30pm Sat, Piazzale Brignole 2. Map 2 E1.
8am–1pm, 3–8pm Sun.
Closed during services. The grandiose white façade
8 10:30am Sun or by of the vast Albergo dei Poveri,
appt. ^
with the Genoa city coat of arms
at the centre, dominates your
The name of this church vision as you approach along Via
combines the two names, Brignole De Ferrari. One of Italy’s
one past and one present, earliest charitable institutions,
of the square that it looks providing food, lodging and
onto. Now Piazza della medical care for the poor and
Nunziata, the square was the sick, it was established in the
The richly decorated interior of the originally Piazza del 1600s under the patronage of
church of San Siro, once Genoa’s cathedral Vastato, a name derived Emanuele Brignole.
from guastum or The former poorhouse, an
7 San Siro vastinium. These terms referred emblem of the generosity
to the fact that the district, of the city’s nobility, is laid out
Via San Siro 3. Map 5 B2. which was not enclosed within around four courtyards, with
Tel 010 246 16 74. Open 7:30am–
noon, 4–7pm daily. the city walls, was free from the a church at the centre. Works
restrictions which could prevent of art housed here include
A church of ancient foundation, its use by the military. paintings by Giovanni Battista
San Siro was mentioned in docu­ The original church dates Paggi, Pierre Puget and
ments in the 4th century. It was from 1520, but it was rebuilt Domenico Piola. The building
Genoa’s cathedral until the 9th in the 16th and 17th centuries has been taken over recently
century, when that title passed for the powerful Lomellini by the University of Genoa, but
to San Lorenzo. family. The façade has two bell may be open to the public in
Following a fire in 1478, towers, with a 19th­century the future.
San Siro was recon structed pronaos (portico). Nearby are the Salita di
under the supervision of the The rich interior decoration San Bartolomeo del Carmine
Theatines, an order of Italian is thought to be the work of the and the Salita San Nicolò,
monks established to oppose brothers Giovanni and Giovan perfectly preserved narrow
the Reformation by raising the Battista Carlone in 1627–8, uphill streets (creuze) that were
tone of piety in the Roman involving other important once on the outskirts but have
Catholic church. The church’s artists such as Gioacchino now been absorbed into the
current appearance dates Assereto, Giovanni Andrea city centre.
from this period, though the Ansaldo and Giulio
façade was the work of Carlo Benso over the ensuing
Barabino (1821). decades. The central
Inside, there are three broad nave is dedicated to
aisles with frescoes and stuccoes glorifying the divinity of
by Giovanni Battista and Christ and of the Virgin
Tommaso Carlone, respectively Mary. In the vaults of
(second half of the 17th century). the transepts, frescoes
In the presbytery, adorned by Giovanni Carlone
with multicoloured marbles, depict the Ascension
is a monumental high altar in and Pentecost. The
bronze and black marble, a fine Assumption of Mary in
work by Pierre Puget (1670). the cupola was painted
Also of interest in the church by Andrea Ansaldo
is Annunciation by Orazio and later restored by
Gentileschi (1639). Gregorio De Ferrari.
Several side chapels were In the side aisles are
decorated by Domenico frescoed scenes from
Fiasella, Domenico Piola and the Old and New
Gregorio De Ferrari, who also Testaments. The frescoes
painted the canvases in the in the presbytery and
church sacristy. the apse (Annunciation The imposing façade of the Albergo dei Poveri
For hotels and restaurants in this area see p180 and pp189–90

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