History of the palazzo

What the archived site said about the building's past — and where its own pages disagreed with each other.

According to the property's own English and Italian history pages, the palazzo dates back to the mid-16th century, built for the Cicala family — described there as a family that "gave Genoa leaders, poets and cardinals." The same pages say ownership later passed to the De Mari noble family, and then, in the 18th century, to the Ferro family, who restored it in the Rococo style — the elaborate facade on Piazza delle Scuole Pie is cited as an example of that restoration. The Cicala and De Mari families were both real, well-documented families of the Genoese nobility — but we haven't been able to independently confirm this specific ownership chain for this building, or the Ferro-era Rococo restoration, from a source other than the property's own marketing copy. An independent academic history of Genoa's historic palazzi (the University of Genoa's FOSCA project, drawing on 18th–19th century guides by Ratti and Alizeri) instead attributes the building to the Cicala family via the poet and Republic consul Lanfranco Cicala, with construction credited to the architect Bernardino Cantone da Cabio — it does not mention the De Mari or Ferro families, or a Rococo restoration, at all. We're presenting both because we can't say which account is more complete.

The property's own history pages add that from the late 19th century the building was used for offices rather than as a residence: first, they say, for the insurance company "Italia Assicurazioni," then for the freight agency "Odino Valperga." We can independently confirm both were real Genoese companies — Italia was a genuine marine and general insurer founded in Genoa in 1872, and Odino Valperga was a real Genoese freight-forwarding firm (later trading as Odino Valperga Italeuropa) — though we haven't been able to independently confirm either had offices specifically in this building. The archived pages state the palazzo returned to private hands in June 1999 and to residential use, with Locanda di Palazzo Cicala opening as a hotel not long after.

Where the sources disagree: the property's history page (English and Italian) says the Locanda first opened in 2001; its own homepage copy elsewhere says it opened in summer 2002. One older archived capture also describes the building as "17th century" rather than mid-16th, and gives the facade a different orientation ("Piazza Duomo" rather than Piazza delle Scuole Pie/Piazza San Lorenzo). Both sets of claims are genuinely present in the archive; we're not able to say which is more accurate, so we've presented both rather than picking one.

Restoration and design

The palazzo's restoration into a hotel is credited, on the archived hall page, to architect Andrea Freggia. The interior mixed contemporary design with period furniture and, per the site's own meta description for its design page, notable pieces including a red sofa by designer Ron Arad and a ball-shaped lamp by Achille Castiglioni. We can independently confirm Castiglioni lamps of the kind described appear in the property's own archived photography, shown below.

An Achille Castiglioni bubble-globe pendant lamp, photographed inside the property — An Achille Castiglioni-designed pendant lamp, from the property's own archived photography.

A contemporary red artwork of a horse figure, displayed inside the property — Contemporary art displayed inside the hotel, consistent with press coverage noting rotating art exhibitions in its common spaces.

The Charm Hotels network

The archived site's footer carried a badge linking to charmhotelsweb.com — a third-party marketing network for small independent "hotels de charme," not the property's own brand. Locanda di Palazzo Cicala was, at least at some point, a member of that network; we mention it here only as a historical affiliation, not as the property's own name.

Company details (as archived)

The operating company was named on the site as Cicala s.r.l., Italian VAT/tax number 01303720997, registered at Piazza San Lorenzo 16, Genova. These are historical, archived facts about who operated the property when the site was live — not a current business listing.