Italy · 17th century
The Palazzo Reale (Royal Palace) or Palazzo Stefano Balbi is a major palace in Genoa.
Construction of the present structure began in 1618 for the Balbi family. From 1643 to 1655, work renewed under the direction of the architects Pier Francesco Cantone and Michele Moncino. In 1677, the palace was sold to the Durazzo family, who enlarged the palace under the designs of Carlo Fontana.
In 1823, the palace was sold to the Royal House of Savoy. From 1919, the palace has belonged to the state.
The palace contains much original furniture and decoration. Frescoes inside include the Glory of the Balbi Family by Valerio Castello and Andrea Sghizzi, Spring changing slowly to Winter by Angelo Michele Colonna and Agostino Mitelli, and Jove establishes Justice on the Earth by Giovanni Battista Carlone. It also contains canvases by Bernardo Strozzi, il Grechetto, Giovanni Battista Gaulli, Domenico Fiasella as well as Bassano, Tintoretto, Luca Giordano, Anthony van Dyck, Ferdinand Voet, and Guercino. It contains statuary by Filippo Parodi.
Text adapted from “Palazzo Reale (Genoa)” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Royal Palace of Genoa ranks #1,449 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #105 of the 560 mapped in Italy. Founded 1655, it is older than 25% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 721 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 4,397 times in the last 60 days, more than 85% of the atlas. Wikidata records about 81,000 visitors in 2022. 20 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Italy compares in the castle statistics.
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