Genova has close to 30 museums ranging from centuries old historic palaces to a modern acquarium. An annual museum card allows entry into 20 of them for free, and many more for a discount. It’s a good deal at 35 Euros, and an even better deal for students, which we passed for, at 20 Euros.

With museum card in hand, we went to our first Genovese museum, Museo dell’Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti. It’s a fine art museum featuring work by Genovese artists and other artists who spent time in Liguria from about the 1400s to the early 1900s.

The museum is housed on the third floor of a relatively nondescript palace in Piazza de Ferrari, the central plaza in Genova. When we arrived at the third floor entrance, the guard had to unlock the front door for us and call down to the ticket taker to check our passes because, apparently, we were the only visitors that afternoon. Having a museum to yourself really improves the experience, particularly in a country where it’s entirely possible that even one other visitor would find the need to stand on our heels to admire the same painting at the same time as us.

The cavernous white rooms with muted sunlight made a nice setting for the large paintings of bibical scenes and the Ligurian coast hanging from the walls and partitians. After a pleasant experience at Belle Arti we’re ready to tackle the rest of Genova’s museums. One down, 28 more to go…

Last Modified : March 26th, 2007
Filed under : Italy, Arts and culture
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