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In the early 1600s the Balbi family successfully petitioned
the Senate for permission to build their own street, Via Balbi, on which they constructed their residential palaces.
They commissioned the famous Italian architect, Bartolomeo Bianco to design their palaces, some of which were sketched
by Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens and later published in his book, Palazzi di Genova.
 Gio Agostino's Palace (left), at Number 1 Via Balbi,
designed by Bartolomeo
Bianco, was built in 1618 and sketched by Rubens. Today this privately owned palace is the Palazzo Durazzo Pallavicini.
The former palace of Giacomo and Pantaleo Balbi, (right) located at Number 4 Via Balbi, was also designed by Bartolomeo
Bianco and sketched
by Rubens. Today it is known as the Palazzo
Balbi Senerega and is the seat of the University of Genoa's Literature and Philosophy departments.
 At Number 5 Via Balbi is the Palace of the University
of Genoa (left), built by the Balbi family to house the College of the Jesuits which was established in 1669. Construction
of the palace began in 1634 and was completed by 1640. Today it is known as the Palazzo dell University and is
the main building of the University of Genoa. The University Library, formerly the Church of Saints Gerolamo and
Francesco Sarverio, is adjacent.
At Number 10 Via Balbi is another Balbi family palace that
was originally called the Palazzo della Corona and is today the Palazzo Reale (right).
The construction of the palace began in the 1618 to 1620 time frame. Stefano Balbi and Gio Francesco Balbi II were
the primary individuals involved in the planning and construction process. In 1643, phase two of the palace construction
began. One year later, Ottavia, daughter of Gio Agostino Balbi, financed the completion of the construction of
the palace.
 The Palazzo Reale includes frescos by a number of famous artists.
Among them, "Fame of the Balbis" (left) a ceiling fresco by Valerio Castello and Andrea Sighizzi; "Spring
Driving away Winter" by Angelo Michele Colonna and Agostino Mitelli; and "Jove Sending Justice to Earth"
by Giovanni Battista Carlone. Other paintings include two canvasses by Luca Giordano; the portrait of Caterina Balbi Durazzo by Van Dyck; and also paintings by Genoese masters such as Bernardo
Strozzi and Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione. In 1645 Francesco Maria Balbi assumed the palace project, built a garden,
renovated downstairs and frescoed the rooms. He and his cousin, Giovan Battista Balbi concluded the building of
the palace. Italian designer, Ezia Gavazza decorated the palace interior in accordance with the Balbi taste.
In 1677 the Balbis sold the palace to the Durazzo family, who enlarged the palace. In 1823 the Durazzos sold the
building to the King of Savoy who used it as an official residence. In 1930 the Royal Palace passed to the Ministero
della Publica Instruzione. The Palazzo Reale is now a State Museum.
The Palazzo Reale preserves the original furniture from
throughout its long history and includes Genoese, Piedmontese and French furniture from the middle of the seventeenth
century to the beginning of the twentieth century.  The rooms of the palace include
bronze, crystal and painted glass lights and also Chinese, Japanese and Italian vases, clocks, tapestries and sculptures
by Domenico Parodi (Gallery of Mirrors, at right).
In addition to their palaces on and around Via Balbi, the
Balbi family also had villas in the area, the largest of which was the Villa Zerbina. With regard to the family
library, Gerolamo Balbi maintained a library that included books on science, business, cosmopolitan concepts, theoretical
mathematics, dictionaries and publications in French, Spanish and Flemish.
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