Palazzo Campanella (Bell Palace), Genoa

The Bell Palace has had centuries of practice mastering the art of establishing its presence instantly. This is a polished example of Genoese Mannerism and part of the famous Rolli Palaces, the republic’s clever system of state hospitality. Today, that system earns UNESCO status; back then, it earned serious bragging rights...

The palace was commissioned in 1562 by banker Baldassarre Lomellini, who hired Genoa’s star architect, Giovanni Ponzello, to do the honors. The original building was lavish even by Genoese standards, with frescoed halls by Andrea Semino and a full-blown Mannerist façade.

Most of that exterior drama is gone now, but one detail survived the centuries: the marble entrance portal carved by Taddeo Carlone, bearing the quietly confident motto “Mindful of future generations.” If you’re wondering what the rest looked like, Peter Paul Rubens has you covered-his engravings preserve the palace’s original front like a 17th-century screenshot.

By the late 18th century, the palace had entered a new chapter. Ownership shifted, tastes evolved, and French-flavored Neoclassicism moved in. Architects Charles De Wailly and Emanuele Andrea Tagliafichi refined the interior with a dignified atrium, a porticoed courtyard, and the famously grand “Hall of the Sun,” modeled on Versailles. Sadly, that hall didn’t survive the Second World War. The 1942 bombings caused heavy damage, wiping out some of the palace’s most celebrated interiors and making one thing clear-history does not come with a backup copy...

Today, the Bell Palace belongs to the Campanella family, who acquired it in 1917, and it serves as regional government offices-bureaucracy with excellent ceilings...

The good news is that the first floor is open to the public. Here, you can still admire 16th- and early 17th-century frescoes, including the Roman-themed Hall of the Zecchini and a dramatic scene of Aeneas and Dido painted by Giovanni Battista Castello, known as il Bergamasco. It speaks to the fact that even when palaces change roles, they rarely forget how to put on a show.