At a glance

Genova Rolli (the most precisely GenovaRolli serial Genova Liguria Italy 44.4088 N 8.9317 E UNESCO WHS 2006 reference 1211 serial 42 palaces: the Rolli system (the word “rolli” is the Genoese term for “scroll” or “list”; the official term used in the Republic of Genoa documents is “Rolli degli alloggiamenti” — the list of accommodations); the Republic of Genoa established the Rolli system by decree in 1576 CE; the system was revised and expanded in lists of 1588, 1599, 1614, and 1664 CE; the purpose: the Genoese Republic needed to provide official hospitality for the very frequent state visits (in the 16th century, Genoa was the financial capital of Europe; the Bank of San Giorgio (established 1407 CE; the first public bank in history; the institution that financed the Spanish crown’s global empire; Machiavelli called it “a republic within a republic”) attracted continuous visits from European monarchs, ambassadors, and merchants; the Republic could not afford a royal palace of its own; instead, it created the system of obligating the wealthiest private families to make their palaces available on demand for official visits; in return, the families received immunity from certain taxes; the families were assigned to 3 categories (“first,” “second,” and “third” categories; the category determined the rank of guest the family was obligated to receive — first-category palaces hosted kings, popes, and emperors; second-category palaces hosted cardinals and great nobles; third-category palaces hosted ambassadors and merchant representatives); the Strada Nuova (now Via Garibaldi): opened 1558 CE (the first planned urban commercial street in Europe — the first street built as a unified design rather than the accumulation of incremental individual constructions; the Genoese building regulation of 1558 CE required that the palaces on the Strada Nuova maintain a unified cornice height (maximum 20m) and an identical setback from the street line; the result is the most architecturally unified Renaissance commercial street in Italy); Rubens’ “Palazzi di Genova” (1622 CE): a book of architectural engravings of the Genoese Rolli palaces published in Antwerp by Rubens; the only systematic architectural documentation of the Rolli palaces before the 19th century; Rubens spent 4 years in Genoa (1604–1608 CE) as the court painter to the Gonzaga of Mantua and visited Genoa several times; his book influenced architectural design across northern Europe (the Flemish, English, and German merchant-class urban palatial tradition of the 17th century derives directly from the Rubens-published Genoese models)).