Church of Jesus and Saints Ambrose and Andrew, Genoa

Picture the 6th century. Bishop Onorato of Milan is making a fast, unplanned exit—running from Longobard persecution and heading for Genoa. With him, he brings Milan in spirit, founding a church dedicated to Saint Ambrose, the city’s patron saint. For a while, it served Genoa’s Milanese community. Then, the 7th century rolls in—the community fades away, and the church is left quietly behind.

Jump ahead nearly a thousand years and enter the Society of Jesus. In the 16th century, the Jesuits took over the abandoned church and decided subtlety was not the goal. In 1522, they rebuilt it from the ground up, working from designs by Giuseppe Valeriano. Later still, in the late 19th century, the façade got a dramatic makeover inspired by Peter Paul Rubens. The result was full Baroque flair, complete with statues of Saints Ambrose and Andrew carved by Michele Ramognino.

Cross the threshold, and your eyes are immediately pulled upward. The nave and dome are alive with frescoes by Giovanni Battista Carlone. At the main altar, things get serious: a Circumcision by Rubens himself, a Massacre of the Innocents by Giovanni Battista Merano, and a Flight into Egypt by Domenico Piola. Guarding the space are statues of Saints Peter and Paul by Giuseppe Carlone.

The side chapels keep up the pace. In the first, you’ll find a fresco by Giuseppe Galeotti, a painting by Giovanni Andrea De Ferrari, and statues of Saint Charles Borromeo and Saint Ambrose carved by Giovanni Domenico Casella. The second chapel features a fresco by Lorenzo De Ferrari, a powerful Crucifixion by Simon Vouet, and a nativity scene by Tommaso Orsolino. In the third chapel, De Ferrari returns with more frescoes, joined by an Assumption painted by Guido Reni.

What started as a refuge church ended up as a Baroque greatest-hits album—proof that in Genoa, even a story that begins with someone running for their life can turn into something spectacular.