GENOA, ARCHDIOCESE OF. - Capital of Liguria.
SUMMARY:
I. Geographical note
II. Historical note
III. Illustrious figures
IV. Cultural institutions, libraries, archives
V. Monuments and shrines.I. GEOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Metropolitan see since 1133. Suffragan dioceses: Albenga, Bobbio, Chiavari, Noli, Sarzana-Spezia-Luni-Brugnato, Savona, Tortona, Ventimiglia. Seat of the regional Ligurian ecclesiastical tribunal.The archdiocese covers an area of 980 sq. km., with a population of 750,000; it has 234 parishes, 63 of which are in the city; 6 urban vicariates and 31 rural vicariates. There are 86 male religious houses and 272 female religious houses. The major seminary was founded by Cardinal Archbishop Stefano Durazzo in 1657, expanded by Cardinal Archbishop Placido M. Tadini in 1840, and by Archbishop Salvatore Magnasco in 1891. The minor seminary is located at S. Martino d'Alba (Chiappeto) and was recently rebuilt. The archbishop holds the title of legate beyond the seas, granted by Alexander III in 1162, is grand chancellor of the theological college of S. Tommaso d'Aquino, perpetual abbot of S. Siro, S. Maria Immacolata, and S. Girolamo. The patroness of all Liguria is S. Maria Immacolata; the patron of the city and the ancient dominion is S. Giovanni Battista; the patron of the city is S. Lorenzo.
II. HISTORICAL NOTE
1. Civil history
The origins of “Genua, Janua” are unknown. The first nucleus of the city formed on the hill still called “Castello,” a site suitable for the defense of the port and the entire surrounding area. Genoa, as a Roman city, was always allied with the Republic and the Empire, and for this reason in 218 B.C. it was attacked and destroyed by Mago, brother of Hannibal, an enemy of the Romans, but soon rebuilt by the praetor Spurius Cassius and received many favors from Rome, such as the construction of roads, bridges, aqueducts, port works, and buildings. The Via Postumia, built by the consul P. Postumius in 148 B.C., ran from Genoa through the Polcevera Valley to Dertona, Placentia, and as far as the Carso; the Via Aemilia, opened by Aemilius Scaurus in 109 B.C., crossed the entire coastline from Luni to Vado, continuing to Austria.
The civil life of Genoa was long disturbed by internal strife, which bloodied the city despite repeated efforts to quell it; the Blessed Giacomo da Varazze, throughout his episcopal governance, worked in every way to pacify the factions, and in 1298, hoping to have achieved his goal, he celebrated with great solemnity in S. Lorenzo the feast of peace, which unfortunately lasted only a short time. These struggles led to the instability of the internal regime and the need to rely on foreign powers, such as the Visconti of Milan and France, to maintain internal order. Other events: in 1528 Andrea Doria, acclaimed as the “liberator of the fatherland” from foreign domination, gave the city a new constitution for peaceful governance; in 1625 Charles Emmanuel, Duke of Savoy, marched on Genoa with a large army to conquer it, but was repelled by the intrepid populations of the Polcevera and the Apennines, returning to Piedmont with his army in disarray; more terrible for Genoa was the Austrian invasion of 1746–47, during which the enemy, having sacked and devastated all the villages of the Polcevera and its vicinity, entered the city; but a furious popular uprising put them to flight. At the close of the 18th century, Genoa, stirred by French demagogues, was drawn into the revolutionary movement, so that in 1797, with the suppression of the ancient Republic, the Ligurian Republic was proclaimed. With the Congress of Vienna (1815), Genoa was annexed to Piedmont.
2. Religious history
It is natural that Genoa, a maritime city, would have learned of the new Christian religion at an early date; the many Christian sarcophagi, part of the local artistic heritage, dating from the 3rd century and still visible in Genoa, demonstrate that by that time many Christian families lived in the city. The first bishop recorded with a certain date is Diogenes, present at the Council of Aquileia in 381; other bishops of the 4th–5th centuries are Valentino, Felice, and Siro, but due to a lack of documents, their dates cannot be precisely determined. Pascasius subscribed to the provincial synod of Milan (451). To these bishops, in any case, must be attributed the conversion of the people to the true faith and the organization of the diocese. The cathedral was originally dedicated to the Twelve Apostles, a title later changed to that of S. Siro, the most distinguished among the early Genoese bishops of that age. During the Lombard invasion (569), Onorato, bishop of Milan, fled with his clergy and many faithful to Genoa; he and his successors governed both dioceses until 659, effectively collaborating with St. Gregory in restoring Genoa and Italy from the immense moral and material ruins into which the barbarians had plunged them.After the Milanese bishops departed, the city resumed electing its own bishops, whose names are preserved in official documents, acts of councils, and similar sources. Among the medieval bishops, Siro II stands out; elected bishop of Genoa in 1130, he was made the first metropolitan archbishop by Innocent II in 1133, with the suffragan dioceses of Accia, Mariana, and Nebbio in Corsica, and Bobbio and Brugnato on the mainland. Alongside the great revival of civil life, Genoese religious life flourished; Romanesque churches multiplied, following the example of the Cathedral, which was consecrated by Pope Gelasius III in 1118. The diocese was further organized and religious life developed in all its aspects.
The first emergence of religious communities in the region can certainly be attributed to the influence of the monastery of Bobbio (q.v.), particularly after those monks, having adopted the Benedictine Rule, were able to operate in harmony with the rest of the Lombard-Carolingian monasticism. At the time of Gregory VII, in the struggle against simony and clerical concubinage, the Vallumbrosan monks established themselves at S. Bartolomeo del Fossato. Around the year 1158, the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem settled near the church and hospital of S. Giovanni di Prè, among whom St. Ugo Canefri shone, a valiant crusader who spent much of his life caring for pilgrims and the sick at the hospital. Contemporaneously, in the nearby monastery of S. Tommaso, the ecstatic penitent St. Limbania lived, whose feast is celebrated on August 19. To these two was added a third flower of sanctity, St. Alberto, who lived at the same time in the hermitage of Monte Contessa, Sestri Ponente, where his body is greatly venerated in the church dedicated to him. In the 13th century, the older orders were joined by the Mendicant Orders, which have exercised and continue to exercise an intense apostolate throughout Liguria.
At the time of the Catholic Reformation, Genoa played a leading role. St. Caterina Fieschi, with her disciple Ettore Vernazza, brought true reform to the people through the foundation of many pious works: the “Oratory of Divine Love,” the “Daughters of St. Joseph,” the “Convertite,” the “Company of the Mandiletto,” the “Care of the Sick at Home,” the “Lazzaretto,” and others, which, inspired by the most steadfast piety and charity, spread charity in souls and provided for all the needs of the poor. Other illustrious Genoese contributed to this work of Catholic reform: Cardinal Federico Fregoso, Bishop Leonardo de Marini, and St. Alessandro Sauli, the apostle of Corsica.
In the 15th–17th centuries the following religious orders established themselves in Genoa: the Minims of St Francis of Paola (1487); the Capuchins (1530); the Jesuits (1554); the Somaschi (1575); the Theatines (1575); the Barnabites (1606); the Camillians, ministers of the sick (1594); the Oratorians (1644); the Piarists (1623); and the priests of the Mission of St Vincent de Paul (1645). In 1872 Don Bosco established the Salesians in Sampierdarena.
III. DISTINGUISHED FIGURES
Besides those already mentioned, the following popes are noted: Innocent IV, Sinibaldo Fieschi (1243–54), and Adrian V, Ottobono Fieschi (1276); Innocent VIII, Giovanni Battista Cibo (1484–92); and Benedict XV, Giacomo della Chiesa (1914–22). Guglielmo Embraico Caffaro, annalist of the Commune and diplomat. Giovanni Balbi, grammarian, author of the Catholicon. Simone Boccanegra, first doge of Genoa; Andrea Doria, “liberator of the fatherland.” Bartolomeo Bosco, founder of the Pammatone hospital. Luca Cambiaso, painter. Monsignor Agostino Giustiniani, bishop of Nebbio, learned in Arabic, Chaldean, Hebrew and the classical languages, author of a polyglot Psalter and of the Annals of the Republic of Genoa; Uberto Foglietta, Latinist historian; the Venerable Virginia Braccelli, foundress of the “Virginine”; Cardinal Stefano Durazzo, archbishop of Genoa and founder of the Seminary; the Blessed Maria Vittoria Strata, foundress of the “Celesti”; St Leonard of Antioch Gianelli, bishop of Bobbio; Antonio Brignole Sale, beneficent patrician; Don Lorenzo Gavranetta, instructor of the Schools of Charity; Anton Maria Maragliano, sculptor; Father Ottavio Assarotti, Piarist, who founded the first institute for the deaf; Maria de Ferrari Brignole Sale, duchess of Galliera, foundress of the Galliera Hospitals and other pious works.IV. CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS, LIBRARIES, ARCHIVES
The theological college of St Thomas Aquinas, established by Sixtus IV (1471). The Franzoni Library, founded by Paolo Gerolamo Franzone (1778). The Library of the Urban Mission, founded by another Gerolamo Franzone, son of Paolo (1727): destroyed in the bombings of the Great War, only the celebrated Greek manuscripts donated by Monsignor Filippo Sauli (d. 1528) remained. The Seminary Library; the Archive of the Metropolitan Chapter, very rich in original documents from the 12th century to the present; the Archive of the Archdiocesan Curia; the Archive of the Chapter of Santa Maria delle Vigne; the Archive of the Magistracy of Mercy from the 15th century; and the parish and religious-order archives.V. MONUMENTS AND SHRINES
S. Lorenzo: the cathedral, an imposing and severe structure of the 12th century, consecrated in the part already built in 1118 by Pope Gelasius II. The façade, from the mid-13th century, is in black-and-white stripes, with three magnificent French-Gothic portals whose splays are adorned with graceful smooth and twisted colonnettes. The bell tower, 77 m high, was completed in 1522. The interior has three naves divided by columns supporting ribbed arcades and a Romanesque-style loggia of arches. This loggia belongs to the original Romanesque construction of the 12th century, while the Gothic colonnade below was replaced by Marco Veneto in 1307–12. Galeazzo Alessi (16th century) raised the Renaissance-style dome over the crossing. In the presbytery and choir, walls decorated with large statues of the Four Evangelists by Montorsoli and Gian Giacomo della Porta (1540–53); frescoes in the vault by L. Tivarrone. The Chapel of St John the Baptist is the most imposing work of the Duomo. Behind it is the Chapel of the Most Holy Annunciation, containing the tombs of Cardinals Giorgio Fieschi (by Giovanni Gaggini) and Luca Fieschi, attributed to Giovanni Balduccio of Pisa (1336).S. MARIA DI CASTELLO: among the oldest churches of Genoa, it may have been a cathedral before the year 1000. The present church dates from the 11th century. It has three naves divided by ten granite columns and round arches. It is rich in works of art.
S. DONATO: dating from before the year 1000, it was enlarged in 1170. It has three naves divided by twelve columns supporting a blind loggia subdivided by biforas. Above the dome rises an elegant bell tower, richly adorned with small columns and triforas, making it a perfect model of urban Romanesque architecture.
S. GIOVANNI DI PRE: founded in 1180 by the Knights of St John on the site of the earlier church of the Most Holy Saviour (10th century), still extant. It has three naves divided by 1021 round pillars; together with the black-stone walls and the scant light from the few biforas, this gives the interior a severe aspect. The bell tower, with its paired windows in two orders, is an imposing and majestic work by the Antelami craftsmen of the 12th century, built on the right transept arm.
S. STEFANO: founded by the Benedictines in the 10th century on an earlier 7th–8th-century structure reduced to a crypt. Its black-and-white striped façade dates from the 12th century; the bell tower has squared stones in its lower part and two upper orders built later in brick. It contains many notable works of art by Giulio Cesare Procaccini, Giovanni Battista Castello, Andrea Ansaldo, Giovanni Assereto, and the large painting of the martyrdom of St Stephen by Giulio Romano. A Byzantine-style silver casket houses the relics of St Stephen.
S. AGOSTINO: a vast three-aisled church built in the mid-13th century together with the now-destroyed churches of San Domenico and San Francesco. It is a characteristic example of Genoese Gothic churches. The elegant bell tower has a pyramidal spire clad in polychrome ceramics.
S. MATTEO: built by the Doria family in 1278, it has three rather narrow naves and a black-and-white striped façade; in the 16th century it was transformed from Gothic to Renaissance style. Behind the high altar stands the monumental tomb of Andrea Doria, a work by Montorsoli. The vault has frescoes by Luca Cambiaso and Giovanni Battista Castello, and statues by Montorsoli and his assistants. Adjoining the church is the cloister with paired columns, a work of Marco Veneto (1310).
THE ANNUNZIATA DEL VASTATO: founded in 1520 by the Centenari family, it was soon afterwards brought to its present noble proportions, marbles, gilding and paintings through the munificence of the Lomellini family, making it one of Genoa’s most artistic churches. The three wide naves are divided by composite-style columns inlaid with polychrome marbles; frescoes in the central nave and crossing by Giovanni Battista Carbone. It possesses a great wealth of artworks.
S. MARIA DI CARIGNANO: a superb structure raised by Galeazzo Alessi at the expense of the Sauli family (1512–1564), with a majestic dome flanked by two bell towers.
S. SIRO: Genoa’s first cathedral, believed to have been rebuilt in the 11th century by the Cluniacs; it had a cupola-topped bell tower until the beginning of the present century. The present church was built for the Theatines at the end of the 16th century by the architect Vannone. It has three ample naves divided by paired columns and is rich in marbles and paintings.
S. MARIA DELLE VIGNE: the largest Marian shrine in the city, gleaming with gold, marbles and paintings, with three naves. Its origins go back to the 6th century; it was rebuilt together with its cloister in the 11th century, in what Formentini considers a pre-Romanesque style evident in the surviving wall, the cloister and bell tower, and in the perimeter walls hidden beneath the plaster.
S. AMBROGIO: built for the Jesuits (1589–92) by the architect P. G. Valeriani in the form of a Greek cross, with an abundance of polychrome marbles and frescoes; among the most notable paintings are the Immaculate Conception by Guido Reni, St Ignatius by Peter Paul Rubens, The Martyrdom of St Andrew by Andrea Semino and Tommaso Piaggio.
S. MARIA IMMACOLATA: a Greek-cross church erected in memory of the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception (1856–1873), by the architect Maurizio Dufour.
Among the shrines: N. S. DELLA GUARDIA: the “prince of Ligurian shrines” for “all true Genoese.” For its history see D. Cambiaso, Nostra Signora della Guardia e il suo santuario in Val Polcevera (Genova 1933).
**ST. MARY INCORONATA:** records of it date from the 12th century; parish church of the Canons Regular of the Lateran.
**ST. MARY OF THE THREE FOUNTAINS:** parish church of Montoggio. *S. Maria de tribus fontibus* is mentioned in documents from 1213. According to tradition, the Madonna appeared, at an unknown time, to a poor deaf-mute girl and healed her; hence the great concourse of people to the sanctuary. Feast on September 8.
**ST. MARY OF THE MOUNT,** to the east of G.: a much-frequented sanctuary. Records of it date from the 13th century; in 1399 the Flagellants came there in procession, praying and scourging themselves; in 1444 Eugenius IV granted the church to the Friars Minor, who still govern II. Attached to the convent is also a Seraphic College for Foreign Missions.
**OUR LADY OF THE HOLY WATER (Voltri):** records of it date from 1465; a century later, Archbishop Domenico Demarini, noting the great frequency of the faithful at this sanctuary, especially from the towns of the Riviera, drew up regulations for its administration. In 1700, six priests were stationed there. Today there is a great concourse of devotees from G., the Riviera, and Piedmont.
**OUR LADY OF THE GROVE (Camogli):** the object of devotion is an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the Child, painted on a wooden panel and venerated from time immemorial on a pillar in that wood (whence the name *Boschetto*); according to tradition, in 1518 the Madonna appeared to a pious girl named Angela Schiaffino, ordering her to let it be known that she wished the people to erect a church there in her name; hence a chapel was built, which in 1631 was replaced by the present church.
**OUR LADY OF VICTORY,** on the Via dei Giovi (at 600 m.): the title comes from the victory won by the common people through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1625 against the army of Charles Emmanuel of Savoy, which had come there on its way to G. After the battle, a chapel was built on the spot where the pillar with the image of the Madonna stood; this was later enlarged several times, until in 1750 the present sanctuary was built, especially through the zeal of a poor beggar, Gaetano Pedemonte. The feast is celebrated on May 10. The sanctuary is much frequented by the populations of the upper Polcevera and the Ligurian Apennines.
**ST. MARY OF GARNO (Rivarolo):** first mentioned in 1365; the object of the people’s veneration is an 85 cm tablet on which is carved an image of Mary with the Child and below the inscription *«Santa Maria de Garbo Amen»*. The tablet is said to have been found by some boys in the hollow (in dialect *«garbo»*) of a chestnut tree; the present church dates from the 16th century. Feast of the Most Holy Mary of the Nones. Recently it has been made a parish church. - See pl. III.
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