Complesso di Santa Maria di Castello
Romanesque church and Dominican convent in Genoa’s historic centre, with cloisters, an early Christian crypt and a museum route of twelve rooms.
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About the museum
The Santa Maria di Castello complex stands on the summit of a hill near the port, in an area inhabited since antiquity: pre-Roman, Roman and Byzantine fortifications and then the bishop’s palace of the 9th–10th centuries made it a seat of military and religious power. From the 11th century important families such as the Castello and the Embriaci settled here, and one of their towers remains. A temple on this site is documented from 1049; the present church, with three naves, a transept and three apses, dates from the first half of the 12th century and was built by craftsmen from the Antelamic tradition.
In 1441 the church was entrusted to the Reformed Dominicans, who settled there in 1442 and created the convent complex: between 1445 and 1452 the second cloister and the sacristy were built, thanks to the brothers Grimaldi-Oliva, then the first cloister and, between 1492 and 1513, the third. From the second half of the 17th century the convent suffered sales of property and alterations, and after the suppression of the religious orders in the 19th century it was partly converted into apartments.
The museum route arose from the need to display works left without a place after the convent’s transformations. A first display dates from 1959; in January 2001 twelve rooms covering about 400 square metres were opened, with furnishings and collections also coming from other Dominican convents. On show are sacred vestments, finds from the 2nd to 10th centuries, the Ognissanti altarpiece by Ludovico Brea, the Madonna and Child by Domenico Gagini, the Immaculate Conception by Anton Maria Maragliano, Russian icons, ex-votos, reliquaries and silverware.
Highlights
- Romanesque church with three naves
- Annunciation by Giusto di Ravensburg (1451) and cloister frescoes
- Ognissanti altarpiece by Ludovico Brea (1513)
- Madonna and Child by Domenico Gagini and Immaculate Conception by Maragliano
- Early Christian crypt of the Grazie and oratory of San Giacomo della Marina
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Plan your visit
| Good to know | The complex comprises the church, the oratory of San Giacomo della Marina, the early Christian crypt of the Grazie, the sacristy, the cloisters and the museum route. |
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