Basilica di San Siro

Fantastic church! Italy is truly full of them :)

Very beautiful church. The dome is quite remarkable

Beautiful church!!!

Worths a visit

Wonderful

It is absolutely one of the best church in Italy. I am sure that is the first place that you have to see when you came to Genova. It is in old town, the most important point of interest. It is in baroque style and it was the oldest cathedral of Genoa. Now it is not more the Cathedral since some centuries because of it is outside of the wall of the town.

Remarkable church with wonderful frescoes and an array of other impressive works of art.

LA CHIESA DI SAN SIRO The Church of San Siro was rebuilt in 1580 by the Theatine Fathers on the site of the old basilica dedicated to the Apostles. The original church dated to the sixth century and was rebuilt in the Romanesque style by the Benedictines who established themselves on the site around the Year One Thousand. Numerous noble Genoese families took part in the church's Baroque reconstruction: they raised altars and entrusted the decoration of the works to the most important artists of the day. The Pallavicino family was prominent among these nobles, in particular Agostino (1577-1649) and his son Ansaldo (1622-1660). They chose San Siro to be their Church and in fact obtained the right to place the Pallavicino coat of arms in the central nave, in this way standing out from - and above all the other aristocratic families. Agostino who was the Doge or Chief Magistrate of Genoa in 1637 wanted to be buried in San Siro. We owe the monumental decoration of the internal part of the facade to him. On his part, Ansaldo commissioned extensive decorative works comprising three frescoes for the central nave which were carried out by Giovanni Battista Carlone with scenes of the Life of Saint Peter. We also owe the ordering of the inside of the facade to him. The seventeenth-century Genoese aristocracy alternated the artistic commissions for the decoration of their palaces with those for places of worship. The Church of San Siro is a clear example of this. Not far from this building we find Palazzo Spinola di Pellicceria which in 1650 became the residence of Ansaldo Pallavicino. Today it houses the National Gallery and from among the works which have always remained where they were originally 'exhibited', it is also possible to admire the three small sketched preparatory works that Carlone proposed to Ansaldo Pallavicino before painting the frescoes on the vault of this Church.