Via Balbi

Along the street that the Balbi family had created in the early 17th century, the series of their original palaces now under Unesco protection is concentrated in the stretch towards the Old Port. Towards the Piazza Principe station, on the other hand, one initially encounters less noble places. Almost immediately, a widening leads to the Montegalletto lift, which ascends to the Albertis Castle.

At number 10 Via Balbi, Palazzo Reale offers a formidable model of a noble residence enriched over time. The current university buildings of Palazzo Balbi Senarega and the palace at number 5, built as a Jesuit college in 1640, also belonged to the same family. Also belonging to the Balbi family was the building at number 1 on the street, with four loggia arms and a spectacular cantilevered staircase from the late 18th century, later passed to the Durazzo Pallavicini family.

You cannot miss a visit to the 16th-century church of St Annunziata del Vastato. The neoclassical façade conceals a much older interior enriched with decorations of inlaid marble, stucco work and frescoes, and paintings, almost a gallery of 17th-century Genoese painting, among which Giulio Cesare Procaccini's monumental Last Supper stands out on the counter façade.