Strada Nuova: as an example of a resilient cultural landscape

In Liguria since ancient times the landscape systems with villas and gardens have structured the territory as strategic elements of the frame between agricultural land. A real network of villas, gardens and adjoining agricultural areas constituted the recognizable element of the territorial organization with a systematic control of rural properties. For centuries a surprising number of villas and gardens has connoted the landscape of the great city of Genoa, admired by travelers, by Italian and foreign artists, who have described the fundamental role of connotation of the image. The historical evolution of the Genoese landscape is explored until the twentieth century: from the abbeys and parish churches, the first nuclei of transformation of the agricultural space of the Middle Ages, to the villa systems reached maturity in 1600 especially in the Albaro hill and in the plain of Sampierdarena until 1800, where urban growth has led to the disappearance of many elements of landscape systems. The survival of the Genoese cultural and historical landscape to the idiosyncrasies of the contemporary age is the demonstration of the resilience of the whole complex system of villas and gardens structured over the centuries. Among the most significant examples the system of terraced gardens of 'Strada Nuova', which has characterized the Genoese landscape to such an extent, to contribute to the inscription on the UNESCO lists of the palaces of the rich Genoese merchandise. They structure the famous road described and designed by Rubens and that together with others have been called 'Palazzi dei Rolli'.