GENOA, Archdiocese of. - Capital of Liguria.
I. GEOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Metropolitan see since 1133. Suffragan dioceses: Albenga, Bobbio, Chiavari, Noli, Sarzana-Spezia-Luni-Brugnato, Savona, Tortona, Ventimiglia. Seat of the regional ecclesiastical tribunal of Liguria.
The archdiocese has an area of 980 sq. km., with 750,000 inhabitants; it has 234 parishes, of which 63 are in the city; 6 urban vicariates, 31 forane vicariates. Male religious convents and houses 86, female 272. Major seminary founded by the archbishop Cardinal Stefano Durazzo in 1657, enlarged by the cardinal archbishop Placido M. Tadini in 1840, and by the archbishop Salvatore Magnasco in 1891. Minor seminary at S. Martino d'Albaro (Chiappeto), rebuilt a few years ago. The archbishop holds the title of "legate beyond the sea" (legato trasmarino), granted to him by Alexander III in 1162, grand chancellor of the College of Theology of St. Thomas Aquinas, perpetual abbot of S. Siro, S. Maria Immacolata and St. Jerome. Patroness of all Liguria is St. Mary Immaculate; patron of the city and of the ancient domain is St. John the Baptist; patron of the city is St. Lawrence.
II. NOTIZIE STORICHE
1. Civil history
The origins of "Genua, Janua" are unknown. The first nucleus of the city formed on the hill still called "Castello," a place suited to the defense of the port and of the whole area below. Roman G. was always an ally of the Republic and of the Empire, and for this reason in 218 B.C. it was attacked and destroyed by Mago, brother of Hannibal, enemy of the Romans, but was soon rebuilt by the praetor Spurius Cassius and received many favors from Rome, such as the construction of roads, bridges, aqueducts, harbor and building works. The Via Postumia, built by the consul P. Postumius in 148 B.C., ran from G. through the Polcevera Valley to Dertona, Placentia and as far as the Karst; the Emilia, opened by Aemilius Scaurus in 109 B.C., crossed the entire coast from Luni to Vado as a continuation of the Aurelia which came up from Rome; Augustus in 12 B.C. continued it as far as the Var. In the administrative organization of Augustus, G. together with present-day Liguria belonged to the "IX regio"; G. was enrolled in the "Galeria" tribe. During the successive barbarian dominations of the Goths, Lombards and Carolingians, G. was able to maintain that relatively autonomous government of its own which later Cafaro was able effectively to claim at the Diet of Roncaglia. With the Crusades a new life had begun for G. with the rise of the Commune, a free association of Genoese families which, having shaken off the ancient feudal yoke, wanted freedom of civil, social and commercial life, under the government of the consuls, later replaced in 1339 by that of the podestà, and finally by that of the doges, who governed until the revolution of 1797, when the Ligurian Republic was constituted.
In 1155, in the face of the threats of Barbarossa, G. took precautions by raising the new circuit of walls, which run from the gates of the Vacca, to S. Agnese, Castelletto, Villetta Di Negro, S. Caterina, Piccapietra, S. Andrea, Castello and descend to the sea; a great part of these walls with the monumental Porta Soprana still remains. The Crusades had opened the routes of the East to Genoese commerce; the Treaty of Nymphaeum (1261) concluded with the emperor Michael Palaiologos gave life to the Genoese colonies, which little by little were founded in the Crimea, Syria, Constantinople and in all the regions of the Middle East, sources of immense wealth due to the increased ease of commercial exchanges and to the supplies of raw materials necessary for the city's industry. The growing prosperity brought G., Guelph, in the thirteenth century into conflict with Ghibelline Pisa, which was followed by rivalry and war with Venice for predominance in the Levant. The War of Chioggia and the subsequent Treaty of Turin of 1381 concluded these unhappy events; while in the following century the Turkish invasion put an end to the Genoese colonies.
The civil life of G. was long disturbed by internal struggles, which bloodied the city, despite the ever-renewed efforts to quell them; Bl. Giacomo da Varazze throughout his episcopal government strove in every way to pacify the parties, and in 1298, hoping to have achieved his aim, he celebrated with full solemnity in S. Lorenzo the feast of peace, which unfortunately was short-lived. To these struggles were due the scant stability of the internal regime and the need to lean on foreign powers, such as the Visconti of Milan and France, in order to maintain internal order. Other events: in 1528 Andrea Doria, acclaimed "liberator of the fatherland" from foreign domination, gives the new constitution for the peaceful government of the city; in 1625 Charles Emmanuel, Duke of Savoy, marched with a strong army to the conquest of G., but, assailed by the intrepid populations of the Polcevera and the Apennines, returned battered with his army to Piedmont; more terrible for G. was the Austrian invasion of 1746-47, through which the enemy, having sacked and horribly devastated all the towns of the Polcevera and the surrounding area, entered the city; but a furious popular insurrection put it to flight. Toward the close of the 18th century G., stirred up by French demagogues, was dragged into the revolutionary movement, so that in 1797, the ancient Republic having been suppressed, the Ligurian Republic was proclaimed. With the Congress of Vienna (1815) G. was annexed to Piedmont.
2. Religious history
It is natural that G., a maritime city, may have learned quite early of the new Christian religion; the many Christian sarcophagi, a local artistic heritage, of the 3rd century that are still seen in G. demonstrate that in that era many Christian families were present in the city. The first bishop remembered with a certain date is Diogenes, present at the Council of Aquileia of 381; other bishops of the 4th-5th centuries are Valentine, Felix, Siro, but, for lack of documents, their dates cannot be precisely established. 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 dioceses. The cathedral church was dedicated to the 12 Apostles, a title later changed to that of S. Siro, the most distinguished among the ancient Genoese bishops of that age. At the invasion of the Lombards (569), Honoratus, bishop of Milan, with his clergy and many of the faithful came to take refuge in G.; and he and his successors remained at the government of the two dioceses until 659, collaborating effectively with St. Gregory to raise G. and Italy from the immense moral and material ruins into which the barbarians had plunged them.
Once the Milanese bishops had departed, the city resumed electing its own bishops, whose names are preserved in the official documents, acts of councils and the like. Among the medieval bishops stands out Siro II, who, elected bishop of G. in 1130, in 1133 was made by Innocent II the first metropolitan archbishop, and had as suffragans the dioceses of Accia, Mariana and Nebbio in Corsica, and Bobbio and Brugnato on the mainland. With the great reawakening of civil life walked the religious life of Genoa; Romanesque churches multiplied after the example of the Cathedral, which was consecrated in 1118 by Pope Gelasius II, the diocese was ever better organized, and religious life was developed in all its branches.
The first rise in the country of religious communities is certainly to be attributed to the influences of the monastery of Bobbio (v.), particularly after those monks, having adopted the Benedictine Rule, were able to operate in harmony with the rest of Lombard-Carolingian monasticism. In the time of Gregory VII, in the struggle against simony and the concubinage of the clergy, the Vallombrosan monks established themselves in S. Bartolomeo del Fossato. Ca. the year 1180 the Knights of Jerusalem came to settle near the church and hospital of S. Giovanni di Pré, among whom shone St. Ugo Canefri, a valiant crusader, who spent a great part of his life in the care of the pilgrims and the sick of the hospital. At the same time there lived in the nearby monastery of S. Tomaso the ecstatic penitent St. Limbania, whose feast is celebrated on 19 Aug. To these two was added a third flower of holiness, St. Albert, who lived in the same era in the hermitage of Monte Contessa, Sestri Ponente, where his body is greatly venerated in the church dedicated to him. In the 13th century to the ancient Orders were added the Mendicants, who exercised and still exercise an intense apostolate throughout Liguria.
At the time of the Catholic reform, Genoa played a leading role in this field. St. Catherine Fieschi, with her disciple Ettore Vernazza, brought the true reform among the people, through the founding of many charitable institutions: the "Oratory of Divine Love," the "Daughters of St. Joseph," the "Convertite," the "Companionship of the Mandiletto," the "Care of the Sick at Home," the "Lazzaretto," and others, which, inspired by the soundest piety and charity, spread charity in souls and provided for all the needs of the poor. Other illustrious Genoese cooperated in this work of Catholic reform: Cardinal Federico Fregoso, Bishop Leonardo de Marini, St. Alessandro Sauli, the apostle of Corsica.
In the 15th-17th centuries, there came to establish 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 Filippini (1644); the Scolopi (1623); the priests of the Mission of St. Vincent de Paul (1645). In 1872 Don Bosco established the Salesians in Sampierdarena.
III. ILLUSTRIOUS FIGURES
In addition to those already mentioned, the following popes are noteworthy: Innocent IV, Fieschi Sinibaldo (1243-54), and Adrian V, Fieschi Ottobono (1276); Innocent VIII, G. B. Cibo (1484-92); Benedict XV, Giacomo della Chiesa (1914-22). Guglielmo Embriaco 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 Pammattone Hospital. Luca Cambiaso, painter. Msgr. 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; Foglietta Uberto, Latinist historian; the ven. Virginia Bracelli, foundress of the "Brignoline"; card. Stefano Durazzo, archbishop of Genoa and founder of the Seminary; the b. Maria Vittoria Strata, foundress of the "Celesti"; St. Leonard of Port Maurice; St. Giovanni Battista De Rossi, apostle of Rome; the b. Antonio Gianelli, bishop of Bobbio; Anton Brignole Sale, beneficent patrician; D. Lorenzo Garaventa, founder of the Schools of Charity; Anton M. Maragliano, sculptor; p. Ottavio Assarotti, Barnabite, who founded the first institute for the deaf and mute; Maria de Ferrari Brignole Sale, duchess of Galliera, foundress of the Galliera Hospitals and other charitable works.
IV. INSTITUTES OF CULTURE, LIBRARIES, ARCHIVES
The Theological College of St. Thomas Aquinas, established by Sixtus IV (1471). The Franzoniana Library, founded by Paolo Gerolamo Franzone (1778). The Library of the Urban Mission, founded by another Gerolamo Franzone di Paolo (1727): destroyed by the bombardments of the Great War, the celebrated Greek manuscripts donated by Msgr. Filippo Sauli (d. 1528) survived; the Library of the Seminary; the Archive of the Metropolitan Chapter, very rich in original documents from the 12th century to the present; the Archive of the Archiepiscopal Curia; the Archive of the Chapter of S. Maria delle Vigne; the Archive of the Magistrate of Mercy of the 15th century; parish archives and those of the religious Orders.
V. MONUMENTS AND SANCTUARIES
ST. LAWRENCE: the cathedral, an imposing and severe structure of the 12th century, consecrated in the part already built, in 1118, by Pope Gelasius II: the facade is from the middle of the 13th century in white and black bands, with three magnificent portals in the French Gothic style, whose splay is adorned with graceful smooth and twisted small columns: the bell tower, 77 m. high, was completed in 1522. The interior has three naves, divided by columns that support on pointed arches a gallery of Romanesque arches. This gallery belongs to the original Romanesque construction of the 12th century, while the Gothic colonnade beneath it was replaced by Marco Veneto in 1307-12. Galeazzo Alessi (16th century) raised over the center of the transept the dome in the Renaissance style. In the presbytery and choir, walls decorated with large statues of the four Evangelists by Montorsoli and Gian Giacomo della Porta (1540-53); in the vault, frescoes by L. Tivarone. The chapel of St. John the Baptist is the most imposing work of the cathedral. Next comes the chapel of the Most Holy Annunciation, with the tombs of Cardinal Giorgio Fieschi (by Giov. Gaggini) and of Cardinal Luca Fieschi, attributed to Giov. Balduccio of Pisa (1336).
ST. MARIA DI CASTELLO: it is among the most ancient churches of Genoa, and it appears that before the year 1000 it was also the cathedral. The present church goes back to the 11th century. It has three naves, divided by 10 granite columns, with round arches. It is rich in works of art.
ST. DONATUS: earlier than the year 1000, it was enlarged in 1170. It has three naves, divided by 12 columns, on which rests a blind gallery divided by two-light windows. On the dome rises the elegant bell tower, skillfully adorned with small columns and three-light windows, which make it a perfect model of urban Romanesque architecture.
ST. JOHN OF PRÈ: founded in 1180 by the Knights of Jerusalem above the church of the Most Holy Savior, of the 10th century, still existing, it has three naves divided by squat round pillars, which, together with the walls of black stone and the scant light admitted by the few two-light windows, give it an appearance of great austerity. The bell tower is imposing and majestic, with a double order of paired windows built on the right arm of the transept, the work of the Antelami workshops of the 12th century.
ST. STEPHEN: founded by the Benedictines in the 10th century, over another of the 7th-8th century now reduced to a crypt, its facade in white and black bands goes back to the 12th century: a bell tower of squared stones and two upper orders built later in brick. It possesses many distinguished works of art by Giulio Cesare Procaccini, G. B. Castello, Andrea Ansaldo, G. Assereto, and the large painting with the martyrdom of St. Stephen by Giulio Romano. A silver casket, a Byzantine work, encloses the relics of St. Stephen.
ST. AUGUSTINE: a vast temple with three naves built in the middle of the 13th century together with the two churches, now destroyed, of St. Dominic and St. Francis. It constitutes the characteristic type of the Gothic churches of Genoa. Elegant is the bell tower with a pyramidal spire, covered with polychrome ceramics.
ST. MATTHEW: built by the Doria in 1278, it has three not vast naves, a facade in white and black bands; in the 16th century it was transformed from the Gothic to the Renaissance style. Behind the high altar stands the monumental tomb of Andrea Doria, a work by Montorsoli. In the vault, frescoes by Luca Cambiaso and G. B. Castello; and then statues by Montorsoli and his assistants. Beside the church is the cloister with paired columns, a work by Marco Veneto (1310).
ANNUNZIATA DEL VASTATO: founded in 1520 by the Conventuals, it was shortly afterward, through the munificence of the Lomellini, brought to its present splendor and wealth of noble proportions, of marbles, golds and paintings, which make it one of the most artistic churches of Genoa. The three vast naves are divided by columns of the composite style, encrusted with polychrome marbles; frescoes of the central nave and crossing by G. B. Carbone. It has a great wealth of works of art.
ST. MARIA DI CARIGNANO: a superb structure raised by Galeazzo Alessi through the munificence of the Sauli family (1512-1564), with a majestic dome flanked by two bell towers.
ST. SYRUS: the first cathedral of Genoa, it is believed to have been rebuilt in the 11th century by the Cluniacs; with the bell tower with a spire that remained until the beginning of the present century. The present church was built for the Testini at the end of the 16th century by the architect Vannone. It has three ample naves divided by paired columns; rich in marbles and paintings.
ST. M. DELLE VIGNE: it is the largest Marian sanctuary in the city, shining with golds and marbles and paintings, with three naves. Its origins go back to the 6th century; it was rebuilt together with the cloister in the 11th century, as Formentini holds, in the proto-Romanesque style that appears in the surviving wall, cloister and bell tower, and in the perimeter walls hidden beneath the plaster.
ST. AMBROSE: built for the Jesuits (1589-92) by the architect Father G. Valeriani, in the form of a Greek cross, with a profusion of polychrome marbles and frescoes; among the most distinguished paintings one should remember the Immaculate Conception by Guido Reni, St. Ignatius by P. P. Rubens, Martyrdom of St. Andrew by A. Semino and T. Piaggio.
ST. MARY IMMACULATE: in the form of a Greek cross, raised in memory of the dogmatic definition of the Immaculate Conception (1856-1873), by the architect Maurizio Dufour.
Among the sanctuaries: OUR LADY OF THE GUARD: it is the «principal sanctuary of Liguria» for «all true Genoese». For its history cf. D. Cambiaso, Nostra Signora della Guardia e il suo santuario in Val Polcevera (Genoa 1933).
ST. MARY CROWNED: there are records of it from the 12th century; a parish of the Canons Regular Lateranense.
ST. MARY OF THE THREE FOUNTAINS: a parish of Montoggio. S. Maria de tribus fontibus is mentioned in documents of 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 the people to the sanctuary. Feast on Sept. 8.
ST. MARY OF THE MOUNT, to the east of Genoa: a much frequented sanctuary. There are records of it from the 13th century; in 1399 the Flagellants went there in procession praying and scourging themselves; in 1444 Eugene IV granted the church to the Friars Minor, who still govern it. Attached to the convent is also a Seraphic College for Foreign Missions.
OUR LADY OF THE HOLY WATER (Voltri): there are records of it in 1465; a century later the archbishop Domenico Demarini, considering the great concourse of the faithful to this sanctuary, especially from the towns of the Riviera, gave a regulation for the administration of the sanctuary. In 1700 six priests were engaged in the office of this. Today there is a great concourse of devotees from Genoa, from the rivieras and from Piedmont.
OUR LADY OF THE BOSCHETTO (Camogli): the object of devotion is an image of the Most Holy Mary with the Child painted on a wooden panel, venerated from time immemorial on a pillar in that wood (hence the name of Boschetto); according to tradition in 1518 the Madonna appeared to a pious girl named Angela Schiaffino, ordering her to make known that she wished the people to erect there a church in her name; therefore a chapel was built which then, 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 Most Holy Mary in 1625 against the army of Charles Emmanuel of Savoy, which had reached that place on its way toward Genoa. After the battle a chapel was erected on the spot, in place of the pillar on which the Madonna was painted, which was then several times enlarged, until, in 1750, the present sanctuary was built, through the zeal especially of a poor beggar, Gaetano Pedemonte. The feast is celebrated on the day of May 10. The sanctuary is much frequented by the populations of the upper Polcevera and the Ligurian Apennines.
S. MARIA DEL GARBO (Rivarolo): it is mentioned for the first time in 1365; the object of the people's veneration is a small panel measuring 85 centimeters, on which is carved the image of Mary with the Child and, below, the inscription "Santa Maria de lo Garbo Amen"; the panel was found, it is said, by some children in the hollow (in dialect "garbo") of a chestnut tree; the present church dates back to the 16th century: feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary; recently it has been erected into a parish. - See plate III.
Bibliography10 works
Domenico Cambiaso