Villa Saluzzo Bombrini
28 Via Francesco Pozzo
About
Built at the end of the 16th century by A. Vannone, this is the first of the villas the visitor comes across at Albaro, once favoured by the aristocracy as a location for their country residences, and still an elegant residential area today. Surrounded by a large park, which is still partly farmed, the villa is considered the best example of pre-alessian Genoese architecture. It is characterised by a long form with a double galleried corner loggia, which opens on the surrouding countryside, decorated insude by the seventeenth century artists L. Tavarone and B. Castello. The name 'Paradise', by which the villa was known in subsequent centuries, is derived not only from the wonderful location, but also from the flourishing garden in which noblemen would relax, and divert themselves with games and competitions, as depicted by A. Magnasco in his famous painting "Intrattenimento in un giardino di Albaro", today on show in the Galleria di Palazzo Bianco.
