Here is the portal to enter Genoa's Palazzi dei Rolli. Rolli Days Digital Week kicks off May 16.

As we had exclusively anticipated a few days ago, for the spring 2020 edition, Rolli Days, the event that twice a year opens the doors of the historic Palazzi dei Rolli in Genoa, is going digital, and as opposed to the “physical” edition that takes place over a weekend, Rolli Days Digital Week (this is the name of the event) will last for an entire week, from May 16 to 23. Still in preview, however, we reveal the website on which the entire program will take place and which can be reached at www.visitgenoa.it/rollidaysdigitalweek.

The portal, launched for the occasion, will be structured like a TV schedule: through never-before-seen videos launched starting May 16 (the website already has a schedule of broadcasts), the science popularizers who have always animated the event will take the public on a tour of some of the sumptuous residences of the Genoese nobility of yesteryear, with three brand new ones (Palazzo Spinola Pessagno, Palazzo Interiano Pallavicino and Palazzo Stefano Squarciafico, with the first and third not normally being able to be open to the public: the chance to see them digitally is therefore unique) and seven “old acquaintances” of the event, palaces that usually fill up with visits and appreciation (Palazzo Rosso, Palazzo Ambrogio Di Negro, Palazzo Spinola Gambaro, Palazzo Angelo Giovanni Spinola, Palazzo Brignole Durazzo and Palazzo Tobia Pallavicino).

“The Palazzi dei Rolli,” explains Giacomo Montanari, scientific curator of the event, in the first introductory video, “are a real system of private residences that are put at the service of public function and h ospitaggio. Hospitality is nothing but hospitality, a welcome intended for foreign delegations who come on state visits to the city of Genoa, and ’Rolli’ means nothing but ’roles,’ that is, ’lists,’ an enumeration, an enumeration of those sites that for their quality architectural, and also for the prestige of the pictorial decorations, of the artistic collections that were preserved within them, were deemed suitable to receive in their rooms ambassadors, princes, bishops, lords who came from every corner of the earth. It is a very particular system, not to say unique, which was made necessary by the fact that genoa had a very particular form of government: it was a republic whose power was deposited in the hands of a powerful aristocracy, which moreover made financial speculation the key to a success that was truly worldwide in scope.”

Throughout the week, the appointment with “I Palazzi dei Rolli” will continue, until Saturday, May 23, with dedicated videos and in-depth insights that will allow everyone to learn about the complex history of this system, and with some “gourmet” detours, in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce and the “Genova Gourmet” circuit, to also discover the delicacies of traditional Genoese cuisine.

“The Palazzi dei Rolli,” comments Genoa City Councillor for Culture Barbara Grosso, “tell the story of Genoa and the people who brought it to be queen of the Mediterranean, they are therefore a fundamental piece to get to know the identity of the Superb. At a time like this, where we are forced to stay away from each other, culture has even more of an obligation to be an element of unity that, in fact, makes it the soul of our societies. While waiting to bring people from the works, we try to knock on each other’s doors, bringing the encounter with our area into people’s homes. This edition of Rolli Days does not see digital as a necessity, but intends to exploit its potential to bring people where they could not have gone. There is a firm resolve to maintain the strong points of the event: quality of content, which is always rooted in scientific research; participation of young professionals in the humanities as cultural ambassadors of the city; close collaboration among the participating institutions. And we are preparing more absolute novelties, which will be revealed soon. It will be a week of Palazzi dei Rolli: we would never have the availability to keep ten (and more) palaces open for seven days. On this occasion we can do it and anyone will be able to visit them accompanied by our popularizers for seven days.”

At this address you can also find our article with an in-depth history of the Palazzi dei Rolli.

In the photo: Angelo Giovanni Spinola Palace

Here is the portal to enter Genoa's Palazzi dei Rolli. Rolli Days Digital Week kicks off May 16.

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