Villa del Principe was commissioned by Andrea Doria in 1521 and then it was completed by his heir Giovanni Andrea a century later. It is situated outside the city walls (near the railway station) and for this reason it was not included in the Palazzi dei Rolli. Despite this, it was the “Royal Palace” of the Republic of Genoa and it welcomed famous people like Napoleone, King Vittorio Emanuele II and Giuseppe Verdi.
The property is still owned by the Doria-Phampili family and it has been recently restored. In the interiors you can see beautiful frescoes, wooden furnishings and a series of tapestries depicting the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. The gardens outside once stretched out to the sea, with the magnificent fountain of Neptune at the centre and still visible today.
