Villa del Principe

The Villa del Principe, Palazzo del Principe, or Palace of Andrea Doria in Fassolo is one of the main historical suburban villas of Genoa, Italy. It was built in the 16th century in an area that is now located in the city center, but at the time of the construction of the villa was just outside of the city walls towards Capo di Faro and the Lanterna.

The villa was intended as the private residence of the Genoese admiral Andrea Doria, Prince of Melfi, who often hosted emperors, kings and other foreign authorities. The villa was nonetheless never officially listed as a Palazzo dei Rolli of the Republic of Genova as it was a suburban villa and not an urban palace.

From his residence, Andrea Doria was able to exert a strong political influence on the city, while staying away from the Doge's Palace and the often-treacherous political life of the Republic.

Text adapted from “Villa del Principe” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Villa del Principe ranks #2,179 of 3,691 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #181 of the 288 mapped in Italy. See how Italy compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗