Halfway up the Castello hill, not very far away from the Old Wharf (Molo Vecchio) is one of the city’s most ancient sites. Proof of the 26 centuries of Genoese history lay buried beneath our feet, starting from the times when the Ligurian tribes exchanged their goods with Phoenician, Greek and Etruscan navigators and traders, right up to the glorious times of the Maritime Republic. Reminders of the latter period on this hill are the tall tower that belonged to the Embriaci family, who were heroes of the First Crusade, and the magnificent convent-cum-museum of Santa Maria di Castello. Though the first church on the Castello hill is believed to have been founded in 658 AD by Langobard King Aripert, the current Romanesque church was built in the 12th-century by masons from Lombardy. Today’s internal layout with a central nave and two aisles is a combination of different elements, i.e. a Romanesque nave and chancel, 15th-century side chapels, as well as a 15th-century apse that was enlarged during the 16th century. In the 15th century, Dominican friars changed the building into a convent, adding three frescoed loggias opening out onto the sea, and created an outstanding cultural centre. Nowadays, the church, convent, cloister and museum complex is one of the city’s main ‘culture tanks’ for ancient art. The library is home to some rare and precious illuminated codes, while the museum also houses paintings and Russian icons from between the 17th and 19th centuries. Among the works of sacred and profane art housed inside this complex, visitors should make sure they do not miss the Annunciation by Justus von Ravensburg (1451) and the Black Christ, a large 13th-century wooden crucifix. The romantic tombstone of a 9th century couple is also well worth seeing, with two doves kissing.