Palazzo Doria Tursi (Doria Tursi Palace), Genoa

Palazzo Doria-Tursi, aka Palazzo Niccolò Grimaldi, at number 9, is by far the most impressive and important building on Via Garibaldi. Since 1848 it has been the seat of the Genoa City Hall.

The largest palazzo on the street and the only one built on three lots of land, it was begun in 1565 by the Mannerist architects, Domenico and Giovanni Ponzello, for Niccolò Grimaldi, known as "il Monarca" (the Monarch) for a wealth of noble titles that he held, not to mention the innumerable credits against Philip II of Spain, of whom he was the main banker.

The majestic building had two large gardens framing the central body. The lateral loggias overlooking the street were added in 1597, when the palazzo was acquired by Giovanni Andrea Doria for his younger son Carlo, Duke of Tursi, to whom it owes the current name.

The façade, longest on the street, consists of two superimposed orders. It has a white marble portal crowned with the crusader shield, the coat of arms of Genoa, and is characterized by the alternation of materials of different colors: the pink of the Finale stone, the gray-black of the slate, and the fine white of the precious Carrara marble.

Following the annexation of Genoa by the Kingdom of Sardinia, it was purchased by Vittorio Emanuele I of Savoy in 1820, and on that occasion renovated by the court architect Carlo Randoni, who added the clock tower.

As a culmination of the residential splendor of the Genoese aristocracy, the palace boasts an unprecedented and ingenious architectural solution – the succession of interior spaces: atrium, staircase, rectangular courtyard raised above the portico and double ramp staircase, creating a wonderful play of lights and perspectives.

Nowadays, the palace also hosts a museum dedicated mainly to the Italian musician Niccolo Paganini.