Criteria for inscription
The Strade Nuove and the system of the Palazzi dei Rolli,
in Genoa's historic centre (late 16th and early 17th centuries)
represent the first example in Europe of an urban development project
with a unitary framework, where the plans were specially parcelled
out by a public authority and a particular system of 'public lodging',
based on legislation. The Rolli palaces were residences built by the
wealthiest and most powerful aristocratic families of the Republic of
Genoa at the height of its financial and seafaring power. The site
includes an ensemble of Renaissance and Baroque palaces along the
so-called 'new streets' (Strade Nuove). The grand residence palaces
erected on the Strada Nuova (now Via Garibaldi) in the late 16th
century, formed the quarter of the nobility, who under the constitution
of 1528, had assumed the government of the Republic. Palaces are generally
three or four stories high and feature spectacular open staircases,
courtyards, and loggias overlooking gardens, positioned at different
levels in a relatively tight space. The influence of this urban design
model is evidenced by Italian and European literature over the following
decades. The palazzi offer an extraordinary variety of different solutions,
achieving universal value in adapting to the particular characteristics of
the site and to the requirements of a specific social and economic organization.
They also offer an original example of a network of public hospitality houses
for visits of state, as decreed by the Senate in 1576. The owners of these
palazzi were obliged to host state visits, thus contributing to the dissemination
of knowledge of an architectural model and a residential culture which attracted
famous artists and travellers, and of which a significant example is a collection
of drawings by Pieter Paul Rubens.
Selection's criteria:
(ii) to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span
of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture
or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;
(iv) to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological
ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history;
Link
Genova on the World Heritage Site
