Palazzo Stefano Lomellini

The Palazzo Stefano Lomellini stands in Genoa’s historic centre, a 16th-century building enlarged in the 18th century. It occupies a corner site on Via Cairoli, once part of the Strada Nuovissima laid out between 1778 and 1786. The architect Gregorio Petondi joined two plots to create the present structure, giving it two entrances and a double façade. The design links the two atriums and upper rooms through a continuous staircase, a feature pioneered in Genoa during the 16th century by Bartolomeo Bianco. The palace is now owned by the Doria Lamba family and functions as offices and private residences. The building’s history is recorded in Genoa’s Rolli, a list of notable palaces compiled from 1588 to 1664. In 2006 it was inscribed among the 42 Rolli palaces declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The loggia of the Lomellini ‘hotel’ still existed here in 1798, a reminder of the building’s earlier mixed use. Petondi’s renovation in 1776 transformed the modest nucleus into a grand urban palace with a scenographic layout. The two façades face Via Cairoli and Via Lomellini, framing the corner with symmetrical elegance. Visitors approach through either entrance on Via Cairoli 18 or Via Lomellini 19. Inside, the continuous staircase rises through the linked atriums, offering views of the vaulted ceilings and period details. The upper floors contain offices and private apartments, their rooms arranged around the central circulation spine. The exterior shows Petondi’s late 18th-century design, with balanced windows and restrained ornament. From the street the palace appears as a single harmonious block, its corners softened by the curved façade.