Museums in Genoa

Palazzo Rosso is a sumptuous 17th-century palace on Via Garibaldi, named for its distinctive red facade. Its art collection, donated to the city by the Brignole-Sale family in 1874, includes major works by Van Dyck, Veronese, Guercino, and Dürer, displayed in sumptuously frescoed rooms.

Palazzo del Principe (Villa del Principe) was the magnificent residence of Andrea Doria, the greatest admiral of Renaissance Genoa. Its sumptuous frescoed interiors by Perino del Vaga (a pupil of Raphael) and its terraced Italian gardens overlooking the harbour make it one of Genoa's most impressive Renaissance monuments.

The Palazzo Reale (Royal Palace) is a magnificent 17th-century residence on Via Balbi, retaining its original furniture, frescoes, mirrors, and artworks exactly as the Durazzo and Savoy families left them. Its hanging garden overlooking the port is an unexpected oasis.

The Museo d'Arte Orientale Edoardo Chiossone houses one of Europe's finest collections of Japanese art, displayed in the hilltop gardens of Villetta Di Negro. The collection of over 15,000 objects — samurai armour, ukiyo-e prints, Buddhist sculpture, and lacquerwork — was assembled by the Genoese engraver Edoardo Chiossone during 23 years in Meiji-era Japan.

Palazzo Bianco is the white-marble counterpart to its red neighbour on Via Garibaldi, housing an outstanding collection of Italian, Flemish, and Spanish painting from the 12th to the 17th century. The museum was redesigned by Franco Albini in the 1950s in a celebrated modernist installation.

Castello D'Albertis is a flamboyant neo-Gothic castle perched on Montegalletto hill, housing the Museum of World Cultures. Built by Captain Enrico Alberto D'Albertis, an adventurous sailor and ethnographic collector, it blends medieval revival architecture with collections gathered from the Americas, Africa, and Oceania.

The Galata – Museo del Mare is the largest maritime museum in the Mediterranean, occupying a restored 17th-century arsenal building at Porto Antico. Its four floors trace Genoa's relationship with the sea from medieval galleys to transatlantic emigration, with a Cold War submarine moored outside.

The Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria is one of Italy's most important natural history museums, with over 4.5 million specimens across zoology, botany, mineralogy, and palaeontology. Founded in 1867, it occupies a stately building near Piazza Corvetto.

Palazzo Doria-Tursi is the largest and most imposing palace on Via Garibaldi, distinguished by its vast three-layered courtyard garden. Part of the Musei di Strada Nuova, its star attraction is Niccolò Paganini's violin 'Il Cannone Guarnerius,' preserved under glass and still played once a year by a competition winner.

The Museo Nazionale dell'Antartide Felice Ippolito is a unique museum dedicated to Italian polar research and the wider story of Antarctic exploration. Located near Porto Antico, it documents Italy's scientific expeditions to the Antarctic and Arctic with specimens, equipment, and multimedia displays.