A mysterious city squeezed between land and sea, Genoa has been a world centre of economic exchange and power since the Middle Ages. It was here that the first bank in Europe was established in the 15th century. Between 1528 and 1647, something happened that had never occurred anywhere else in the world: a Republic which had arisen in those very years and was territorially insignificant had suddenly become the most powerful and influential financial centre on the globe, capable of administering as much money as the combined budgets of the great European kingdoms.

It was during these years that Genoa became the bank of the King of Spain, first of Charles V and then his son Philip II. An extraordinary explosion of wealth and power led the most important aristocratic families to challenge each other in a veritable competition for the creation of astonishing new residences, almost like royal palaces, with their painting galleries and works of art, summoning Europe's best architects, artists and painters of the time to the city for this purpose.  

Genoa's strength and influence expanded throughout the known world in those years; 100 extraordinary years for Europe that could only be renamed 'The Century of the Genoese'. It was precisely the fame achieved during this era that gave the city its name 'La Superba' [The Superb]. And it is this history that the Foundation wants to bring back to life today and proudly show to the whole world.