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DID YOU KNOW...
Palazzo Reale a Genova
Palazzo Reale in Genoa
slaves in Messina and transferred them
to his home city. But Giorgio wasn’t
one to give up and he decided to apply
to the government of the “Superba”
for his freedom because he had been
betrayed into slavery. In an example of
true democracy at work, the authorities
agreed with him. The doge, Antoniotto
Adorno, freed Durazzo, who
adopted the name of his home town as
the family surname, and granted him
citizenship of Genoa. For the Durazzo
family it was the start of a new life.
With commitment and tenacity, the
family successfully amassed a remarkable
fortune in the space of just a few
generations. Their skill at exploiting
the power of finance and its management
(a Genoese discovery) enabled
them to enter the elite group of financiers
from Genoa who dominated the
world for several centuries.
In 1528 the new reform introduced by
Andrea Doria came into effect: Genoa
became an oligarchic republic in which
only the members of aristocratic families
entered in a special register could
hold government posts. “Enlightened”
Andrea Doria
or successful members of the bourgeoisie
were able, however, to become
members of the nobility by “registering”
with one of the recognised families.
During this period other Albanian
families were integrated into the life of
the city, but none with the success of
the Durazzos, who were by then fifth
generation patricians, and whose sixth
generation produced the family’s first
doge (Giacomo). The wealth and influence
of the family were such that in the
eighteenth century Genoa was dubbed
the “Durazzian Republic”. Financial acumen,
carefully arranged marriages, and
investments in land across Liguria fed
the family myth for many years, giving
it a virtual monopoly on the appointment
of doges.
The fortune amassed by the family was
used both for major charitable works
and to provide support for the poor (as
was customary and useful in the Republic
in order to maintain social control),
as well as for patronage of the arts (the
Falcone Theatre, the first public theatre
in Genoa and one of the first in Italy,
was financed by the Durazzo family).
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