The Street Rubens Drew and Paganini Made Sing
An introduction to the history of Genoa’s Via Garibaldi, the Rolli system, and Rubens’s architectural records. It also explores Palazzo Doria Tursi and the story of Paganini’s violin, “Il Cannone.”
Genoa, a port city in northwestern Italy, embraces the blue waves of the Mediterranean. Here is a unique place where the only entire “street” in the world, together with the palaces lining it, has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in its entirety, rather than as part of a specific urban district. Once called Strada Nuova (“New Street”), it is now named Via Garibaldi, after a hero of Italian unification.
This short road, barely 250 meters long, is woven through with stories of the immense wealth and art of the Republic of Genoa, which held sway during the Renaissance and Baroque periods, as well as of the masters who left a profound mark on the history of architecture and music.
Mediterranean Financial Empire: The Rise of the Republic of Genoa and the “Rolli System”
In the 16th century, the Republic of Genoa, known by the title “La Superba” (“The Proud One”), was quite literally a center of global finance and maritime trade. Genoa’s rising aristocrats and banking families, who took on the role of Europe’s bankers by lending vast sums to the Spanish Empire, needed a place to visibly demonstrate their wealth and influence. Thus, in the 1550s, they moved beyond the dark, cramped alleys of the Middle Ages and built a boldly and meticulously planned new road in the north of the city—the beginning of Strada Nuova.
The Renaissance and Baroque palaces built here, with their precise symmetry, splendid courtyards, and gardens, served as more than just luxurious homes for aristocrats. The Republic of Genoa operated a very special system of state lodging to host visiting heads of state, diplomats, and other distinguished guests. It was called “Le Strade Nuove e il sistema dei Palazzi dei Rolli.”
The republican government ranked aristocratic residences according to their size and grandeur and entered them in a register (Rolli). When a distinguished state guest arrived, a draw selected an aristocratic family to provide its palace and host kings and ambassadors. This was one of the most original systems of state hospitality in human history, using private wealth to demonstrate the country’s diplomatic standing.
Because hosting guests was a matter of national pride, aristocrats competed to enlist the finest architects and painters of the day to adorn their palaces with sculptures and murals. The street lined with palaces registered in the Rolli system—the official list of residences used to host distinguished guests—is Via Garibaldi. In recognition of its unique historical and architectural value, it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2006.
Through the Eyes of the Master Rubens: The Foundation for Today’s Information Signs and Catalogues
The contribution of Peter Paul Rubens, the 17th-century Flemish Baroque master, was crucial in making Via Garibaldi’s beautiful buildings known throughout Europe and ensuring their preservation as part of humanity’s heritage today.
Rubens visited Genoa in the early 1600s and was deeply impressed by the palaces on Strada Nuova—their innovative structures, geometric beauty, and the aesthetics of their lighting and use of space. He did not simply admire them; he sketched and measured the plans, cross-sections, and exterior decorations of the residences, then published a two-volume book, Palazzi di Genova, in Antwerp in 1622.
Rubens’s Legacy: The Prototype for Modern Guides
Rubens’s book was no mere picture book. It precisely documented measured architectural plans and spatial layouts, serving as a kind of guidebook and illustrated architectural catalogue that presented architects and aristocrats throughout Europe with an “ideal standard” for urban residences. It is no exaggeration to say that modern heritage-site information signs and travel guidebooks, which explain a building’s detailed structure and historical significance at its entrance, had their foundation in Rubens’s painstaking work.
The Violin Legend Echoing Through City Hall: Paganini and “Il Cannone”
The most prominent of Via Garibaldi’s elegant palaces is Palazzo Doria Tursi, built in 1565. Famous for its magnificent arches and graceful staircases, the residence now serves as Genoa’s city hall (Palazzo Municipio) and a museum.
A great legend in music history lies quietly within the treasury of this city hall: the legendary violin “Il Cannone” (“The Cannon”), cherished during his lifetime by Niccolò Pagaini (1782–1840), the violin virtuoso born in Genoa who was known as the “Devil’s Violinist.”
Made in 1743 by the master luthier Guarneri (Guarneri del Gesù), this violin was nicknamed “The Cannon” by Paganini because of its explosive volume and deep, dark resonance. When Paganini died,
he left instructions in his will: “I bequeath this violin, which is like an extension of myself, to my hometown of Genoa, to be preserved forever.”
Today, Genoa’s city hall does not leave this masterwork to languish in a museum display case. To prevent the wood from deteriorating, it is regularly brought to life by professional musicians, and only the winner of the “Paganini International Violin Competition” is granted the privilege of holding this legendary instrument.
In 2015, violinist Inmo Yang, the first Korean ever to win—and still the only Korean winner—also played “The Cannon” on this stage, achieving a historic triumph. This deep vibration ringing through the Renaissance stone walls of city hall brings Genoa’s great heritage into conversation with today’s artists in the most moving way.
A Conversation Along the Road of Time
Walking along Via Garibaldi is not simply a trip to see a well-preserved, luxurious old street. On this 250-meter stone road, we encounter at once the immense wealth of the maritime empire that ruled the Mediterranean, the proud confidence of citizens who hosted state guests, the artistic eye that captivated the master Rubens as he carried his sketchbook, and the passionate melodies of Paganini ringing from deep within city hall. At this grand feast of culture, richly laid out over centuries, we are invited to a remarkable celebration of time and place, where past and present intersect in three dimensions along a single street.
With the road itself serving as one vast museum and history book, Via Garibaldi is a brilliant landmark for intellectuals who seek to understand their times and record their lives on their own terms. Genoa’s New Street (Strada Nuova) offers tangible proof of how the past can be transformed into the great cultural heritage of today.