Built in 1536 for Gerolamo Grimaldi Oliva, a banker and trader with financial interests in Portugal and Spain, Palazzo Grimaldi della Meridiana is one of the early and most significant examples of the architectural renovation that took place in Genoa during the mid-16th century. This stately home was originally constructed outside the city, on a plot of land at the foot of the Castelletto hill, at a time when neither the Strada Nuova (or “New Street”) nor its beautiful buildings existed.
To this day, access to the building is from Salita di San Francesco. It owes its name to the sun-dial (meridiana, in Italian) drawn on its 18th-century south-facing façade. With the opening of Strada Nuovissima, literally “Very New Street”, now Via Cairoli, access to the building was modified and a new entrance was created following the confiscation and clearing of the south garden.
Nowadays, following lengthy and careful restoration work, Palazzo della Meridiana is used for exhibitions, meetings and events. Today’s Sala del Colonnato, the covered hallway with its early 20th-century Art Nouveau skylight by Gino Coppedè is quite remarkable, as are the Grand Hall with frescoes by Luca Cambiaso, the halls decorated by Lazzaro Calvi and the north garden and orchard.