This stylish pedestrian street that climbs up from the Old Harbour Area towards the cathedral, thereby cutting the medieval city centre in two, did not exist up until two centuries ago. Though San Lorenzo Cathedral is over one thousand years old, the buildings around it, both rich and poor, were so thick on the ground, there was no room for anything else. It was only between the 18th and the 19th centuries that the buildings closest to the cathedral were knocked down, the square enlarged and Via San Lorenzo traced. The street was made wide enough for carriages to go through and connected the harbour to the modern part of the city, which was gradually developing around Piazza De Ferrari. This new street was embellished with elegant neoclassical façades: the most imposing of these is perhaps the one of Palazzo Gavotti (at number 5), with its ample loggia. Nowadays, this street is the place to go for a stroll, some window-shopping, to watch the performances of street-artists and for a wine and gastro-stop in one of the many bars or delicatessens that open out onto the road. Parallel to this main thoroughfare is an almost hidden alley called Vico del Filo. Prior to the 19th-century renovations, this was for centuries the official route of access to the cathedral. In 1529 Charles V, King of Spain and soon-to-be Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire rode down this narrow alley on mule-back – though admittedly a richly adorned mule - when he was a guest of ‘his’ Admiral Andrea Doria.