Santa Maria di Castello is a church and religious complex in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, Italy. Administrated for a long time by the

Dominicans Dominicans () also known as Quisqueyans () are an ethnic group, ethno-nationality, national people, a people of shared ancestry and culture, who have ancestral roots in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican ethnic group was born out of a fusio ...

, it is located in the ''Castello'' hill of the city, where in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

a bishop's fortified castle existed. The church is flanked by the large Tower of the Embriaci. The church, in Romanesque style, was erected before 900 AD. It houses many artworks commissioned by the main noble families of Genoa, by artists such as Francesco Maria Schiaffino, Lorenzo Fasolo, Alessandro Gherardini, Giuseppe Palmieri, Francesco Boccaccino, Pier Francesco Sacchi, Bernardo Castello, Aurelio Lomi and Tommaso Orsolino. Notable are the

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

es with ''Stories of David'' and the painted majolicas from the 16th century Genoese school. The high altar is decorated by a marble group of the "Assumption" by Domenico Parodi (late 17th century), while the chapel to the left of the presbytery has a ''Santa Rosa da Lima'' by Domenico Piola and a marble cover by Taddeo Carlone. The fourth chapel in the left aisle has a ''Madonna del Rosario'' by the workshop of

Anton Maria Maragliano Anton Maria Maragliano (18 September 1664 – 7 March 1739) was an Italian sculptor of the Baroque period, known primarily for his wooden statues. He was born in Genoa, where he led an important workshop. He is called also Maraggiano by some ...

, while the first chapel has a painting attributed to Giovanni Battista Paggi (early 17th century). The baptistery has a polyptych from Lombard masters of the 15th century. The main portal is in Tuscan style (mid-15th century), and is surmounted by a Gothic lunette of the 14th century with a "Crucifixion". The

loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior Long gallery, gallery or corridor, often on an upper level, sometimes on the ground level of a building. The corridor is open to the elements because its outer wall is only parti ...

facing the second

cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...

has frescoes of ''Saints'', a ''Madonna'' and, on the first floor, an ''Annunciation'' by Giusto d'Alemagna (1451). In the upper floor has a statue of "St. Catherina of Alexandria" and a marble tabernacle attributed to Domenico Gagini (15th century).

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Maria Di Castello Maria Castello Dominican monasteries in Italy Romanesque architecture in Genoa

See also

External links