The two itineraries suggested in this pages propose a short but significant visit to the old city of Genova, which can be accomplished in a single day.
Itinerary "A" corresponds to the part of the city comprised within the 9th-century wall, while Itinerary "B" concerns the belt between that old settlement and the perimeter of the 12th-century wall.

It starts from the centre of town, piazza Dante, along vico Dritto di Ponticello, a slope leading to the old eastern gateway to town, Porta Soprana. The door, in its monumental shape, was built up in 1155-57 on the vestiges of the 9th-century wall and it has been restored several times since the end of the last century.

Among the many houses which stood along the way in, only the so-called Columbus' house has survived. The house was rebuilt during the 18th century on the ruins of a former building owned by the navigator's father. In the garden behind the house was settled the cloister (12th century) that was part of the destroyed monastery of S. Andrea.

After crossing the Soprana gateway we take on the left. Via Ravecca follows the inner path of the medieval wall and leads to piazza Sarzano. The narrow and lengthened shape of this square is overlooked by the bell-tower of the auditorium of S. Agostino (13th century), formerly a church its spire is covered with little multi-coloured majolica tiles. The square is faced also by the modern Museum of Ligurian Sculpture.
[Turning left into via Ravasco, and then again to the left, we go up a brick stair until we reach the suggestive path that runs on the top of the walls called "of Barbarossa" (1155). From here we'll enjoy a view of the modern buildings of via Madre di Dio and of the 18th-century Carignano bridge; in the background stands the Basilica dell'Assunta, a magnificent work by Galeazzo Alessi (16th century) which deserves a visit for the high architectural quality of its interior.]

Let's go back to piazza Sarzano: on the left, at the very top of the Castello hill, there is the new seat of the Faculty of Architecture. The pre-Roman fortified town was built just in this area, where the Bishop's mansion and two important convent buildings were later erected.
At the bottom of the square, after a short walk along via S. Croce, we enter via S. Maria di Castello passing a big vault on the right. Then, we go up into the part of the city where there are still signs of the 2nd world war bombing, on the right, the little square of S. Maria in Passione, delimited by buildings presenting visible medieval features. The slope continues downward alongside S. Maria di Castello, the main church of the castrum, i.e. the oldest settlement of the city. Since the 15th century the building had been inhabitated by the Domenicani monks, who enriched it with three cloisters, the largest presenting overlapping and partly frescoed loggias.
The interior of the church has a severe Romanic frame with a nave and two aisles, on the columns are visible several Roman salvages.
Walking down the stairway next to the tall Torre degli Embriaci (12th century), one of the few surviving towers of the old city, we reach piazza Embriaci. The square is overlooked by the 16th-century palace of Giulio Sale. Opposite, the ruins of a Lombard-style painted front, with architectural subjects and grotesque (datable by the beginning of the 16th century). Vico S. Biagio leads into via S. Bernardo, a centre line of the civitas, that is the first town-expansion down the Castello hill. Beautiful portals, again in Lombard style, at no. 16r. (15th century) and, on the left, at no. 12 of the nearby piazza Grillo Cattaneo; here, like in the palace of Giulio Sale, the facing low walls formed the boundary of the private zone of a curia, site of a medieval family nucleus.

Taking vico Dietro il Coro dl S. Cosimo, we run alongside the apse and the side of SS. Cosma e Damiano, a church whose parts made of stone still reveal the original Romanic frame (11 th century); the portal on the facade is made with salvages of a Roman architrave. In front of it, a narrow alley leads into via delle Grazie.
[With a turning of about 500 metres from our itinerary we'll reach piazza Cavour, and beyond it the quartiere del molo ('pier quarter'). The quarter was built up in connection with the oldest quay of the port, and it is delimited downstream by the 16th-century Porta Siberia, designed by the already mentioned Galeazzo Alessi (who also designed the Basilica of Carignano) ].
On the right-hand side, via delle Grazie leads into piazza Cattaneo; the homonymous 17th-century palace shows a precious staircase and a pre-existing medieval frame. We reach then piazza S. Giorgio, delimited by two churches: one of them is dedicated to S. Giorgio, former patron of the town, and has ancient origins (first mentioned in 964); the other one, S. Torpete church, is still the patrician church of the Cattaneo family. In this square the first city market operated (11th century), in the area between the port inlet and via Giustiniani, a centre line running in parallel with via S. Bernardo and going into the civitas.
Proceeding towards the north straight on via Canneto il Curto we see on the right the little piazza Stella, where the traces of a medieval porch are visible. From here, along vico del Sale, we reach piazza Sauli, presenting beautiful marble portals: the one at no. 23 r. is particularly remarkable for its candelabra subjects (end of the 15th century). On the facade of the building no. 7 a painted decoration is shown by the falling of large parts of plaster; the decoration is similar to the one already seen in piazza Embriaci.

>We walk along vico Sauli and turn left into via Canneto il Lungo in order to return to via Canneto il Curto, which is farther interrupted by the straight stretch of via S. Lorenzo. The widening of via S. Lorenzo during the last century caused a sudden interruption in the medieval street network. After crossing this street, we keep straight on via Canneto il Curto until we get into piazza Cinque Lampadi, situated at the northern boundary of the 9th-century wall. Nearby stood the S. Pietro gateway and, beyond it, just outside the wall, the market of Banchi (see Itinerary "B").

Flanking the left side of the porch owned by the De Martini family ( 13th century) along vico delle Scuole Pie and then crossing another medieval porch owned by the Cicala family (presenting Roman salvages in columns and capitals), we reach piazza Scuole Pie, a rectangular space of the 2nd half of the 16th century, now delimited by the 18th-century facades of the Scolopi church and of Elena and Cicala palaces. In front of the church vico del Filo ledds into piazza S. Lorenzo, created during the 19th century - just like the homonymous street - to give more room to the monumental facade of the cathedral.

The church was originally included within the 9th-century wall; it was rebuilt in Romanic shape at the beginning of the 12th century and was again modified a century later. The magnificent portals belong to that period: they show influence of the early French Gothic style and they are adorned with polychrome marbles, sheafs of little columns and figured reliefs.
The black-and-white pattern spreads over the upper rows of the facade; these rows belong to different periods, the belltower being ultimated by 1522. Inside, the columns (rebuilt at the beginning of the 14th century) present the same two-coloured pattern; the barrel vaults of the aisles, the dome, the transept and apses zone - richly adorned date back to the 16th century.
On the left aisle, near the entry of the Museum of the Treasure, the three-arched marble Cappella del Battista ("St John the Baptist's Chapel") is still visible; this is one of the most important issues of the 15th-century culture owed to the Lombard sculptors Domenico and Elia Gagini, who featured it by a complex series of reliefs.
Going along via S. Lorenzo, on the right side of the cathedral we'll reach the S. Gottardo portal, dating earlier than the facade as once it was part of the Romanic church. A little farther, on the other side of the road, vico Nostra Signora del Soccorso leads into the medieval street network. Crossing via Canneto il Lungo - which keeps a definite commercial function - (at no. 67 a medieval walled-up porch) we enter piazza Valoria, a 16th-century space conceived in connection to the coeval Palazzo Peirano, with its prospect painted with portraits of soldiers and emperors.

Via Valoria takes into via Giustiniani, the centre line of the civitas: walking down towards piazza S. Giorgio we reach piazza Giustiniani, surrounded by buildings which have been restored during the 18th century.
A fall of plaster from the minor prospect corresponding to no. 6 shows the underlying black-and-white pattern.

In the opposite direction, via Chiabrera leads into via S. Bernardo, where we find a walled-up porch supported by black and white pillars (no. 18), in the next little square stands the Salvago palace (no. 26) presenting a beatiful 16th-century portal surmounted by statues of savages that refer at the name of the family who owned the house.
Via S. Bernardo takes into piazza Ferretto and then into piazza S. Donato. The Church of S. Donato was built up and enlarged during the 12th century. Its facade has been deeply modified by the 19th-century restorations.
The interior - framed like a basilica - presents salvages of Roman columns next to the presbitery, and medieval capitals near the entrance (that is the area involved by the enlargements quoted above). Getting out from the right side of the church (where stradone S. Agostino goes up to piazza Sarzano) we can see the beautiful octogonal tower presenting a row of mullioned windows and a row of windows with three lights (the third row being due to the 19th-century restoration).

Going back to via S. Bernardo, we take via S. Donato towards piazza delle Erbe, through a scenery still heavily marked by the 2nd world war bombs. Vico delle Erbe leads up into piazza Matteotti; the square is overlooked by the broad neoclassical facade of the Palazzo Ducale ("Ducal Palace", 18 th century), a complex architectural body designed by the end of the 16th century. The side foreparts were formerly connected by a wall curtain which was demolished in the last century to create a monumental public area strictly related to the tracing of via S. Lorenzo.
Towards via S. Lorenzo, beyond the Palazzo Arcivescovile ("Archiepiscopal Palace"), stands out the 16th-century dome of the cathedral; the facade of the Chiesa del Gesù ("Jesuits'Church") opens to the right side of the Ducal palace. Between the church and the wing of the Ducal palace, we can see the 19th-century theatre Carlo Felice located in piazza De Ferrari. This theatre has been recently restored. The urban scenery is crowned on its right hand side by the towers of the Soprana gateway and the skyscrapers of piazza Dante.

Before entering piazza De Ferrari, the Jesuits' Church above mentioned is worth a visit. It is also dedicated to S. Ambrogio: this fact reveals a former medieval construction partly issued by a Milanese colony settled in the area then kown as "Brolio". The interior is rich in frescoes, it is characterized by a magnificent multi-coloured marble coating spreading from the floor to the pillars and to the side chapels.