Genoa Parks

Cimitero Monumentale di Stagli

This is one of the most interesting cemeteries in Italy and is visited by many foreign tourists. It owes its fame to its amphitheatre on the slopes of the hill and the continuous succession of monumental buildings and little woods. It was created by G.B.Resasco in successive phases since the middle of the nineteenth century. It is dominated by the Chapel of the Intercession (or Pantheon). Here are all the headstones of the famous people of the city. There are sculptures and architecture throughout the galleries, tree-lined avenues and in the English and Jewish cemetries. They are not only a sample of art from the second half of the nineteenth century; they also show the self-congratulatory nature of the upper-classes of this period. They spared no expense in order that they should be remembered by a chapel or a monument next to the city's heroes. Caterina Campodonico is a well-known example. She was a simple salesgirl who stood at streetcorners selling nuts and canestrelli. She saved money all her life so that she might have a funeral monument which was similar in stature to that of Mazzini.

Built as a country residence by the Dei Mari family in the late sixteenth century, this building, standing on the top of a large public park in the hilly area of Castelletto, was modified by the Grubers in the nineteenth century. Now a museum of Americana, which collects archeological material from the pre-colombian civilisations, especially the Maya people, it incorporates the local police station in its most modern wing as well as a sixteenth century watch tower behind. The nearby family Abbey of S. Maria della Sanita was also a part of the estate. Today it is separated from the villa and open to the public. The park is gently scented by its trees and plants - one of the most pleasant corners of the whole ring-road area, and is favoured not only by locals but also by a dense community of green parrots which live and breed here every year.

Parco della Villetta Di Negro

The rich vegetation of this green space in the heart of the city once framed the neoclassical villa built there by the Marquis Di Negro, designed by C. Barabino. This villa was renowned for the international artistic coterie of painters and writers by which it was frequented (including D'Azeglio, Manzoni, Stendhal and Dickens), as well as serving as a meeting place for patriots and politicans of the time, in particular Mazzini. The villa, destroyed by bombing in the last war, was replaced in 1971 by a modern building, designed by the architect M. Labo, and it houses the Museo di Arte Orientale E. Chiossone. The park covers about two hectares, and was the site of the city's first botanical garden in 1780, and then of the first zoological garden. The path leading to the top of the hill weaves between imposing specimens of exotic plants, including palm trees, Lebanese cedars, camphors and sequoias, crossing playful fountains, lakes with swans and ducks, aviaries of birds, evocative artificial grottoes and the breathtaking waterfall, a fairytale feature in an urban context, as favoured by the taste of the age. The highest areas of the park, with its well established pine trees and an attractive fishpond yields a memorable view over nineteenth century Genova. Access to the gardens is through Piazza Mazzini (above Piazza Corvetto) from Via Martin Piaggio and the Dinegro hill.

Parchi di Nervi

Today a public park, this is an amalgamation of the splendid gardens of the Groppallo, Serra and Grimaldi villas, which, together with the Villa Brignole Sale (Duchessa di Galliera), make up the largest green space in the city. This luxuriant area, which occupies almost nine hectares, retains the orignal, romatically inspired layout of the gardens, with English lawns, palm trees, ponds and fountains, and a beautiful rose garden which in May and June is visited by plant lovers from near and far. While Villa Groppallo houses the city library, Villa serra is the site of the Galleria d'Arte Moderna Villa Serra Groppallo, and in what was the Villa Grimaldi (now Fassio) is the Raccolte Frugone a Villa Fassio. In the summer, the park, has recently been discovered as a perfect film location, hosts the famous International Ballet Festival and the Rose Garden Cinema: a summer arena for contemporary and classic films. But the Parco di Nervi is perhaps most memorable for the numerous, almost tame squirrels that live there, delighting generations of children.

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