The Ducal Palace (Palazzo Ducale) in Genoa

Nowadays Ducal Palace in Genoa houses art exhibitions and various activities besides a bookshop, a jazz museum, a large café restaurant, a poetry room and an educational centre for children. Ducal Palace construction had begun during thee Republican period, when Genoa was a leading power in the Mediterranean Sea after the defeats of Pisa and Venice. Its Tower of the People, completed in 1539, still towers over the old Genoa. This medieval building gave way to enlargements and new constructions especially when, in the 16th century, works were carried out to make the Palace more representative of the new oligarchic republic. To be underlined that, during the time of Genoa Republic, the medieval Grimaldina tower was used as a VIP prison for aristocrats, dangerous intellectuals and nobles.