Palazzo San Giorgio

Palace of Saint George
Palazzo San Giorgio (Italian)
Palazzo San Giorgio seen from Bigo
General information
Architectural style	Gothic Renaissance
Town or city	Genoa
Country	Italy
Coordinates	44°24′33″N 8°55′43″E / 44.409167°N 8.928694°E / 44.409167; 8.928694
Year(s) built	13th–16th century
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Friar Oliverio

The Palazzo San Giorgio or Palace of St. George (also known as the Palazzo delle Compere di San Giorgio) is one of the most important and well-known historic buildings in Genoa. It currently houses the headquarters of the Port System Authority of the Western Ligurian Sea.

The palace, included in the Molo district, is made up of two very distinct parts: an older part, a typical example of medieval civil architecture, with the façade facing the Sottoripa portico, and a Renaissance part, facing the sea, in which prospect, overlooking Via della Mercanzia, the short street that connects Piazza Caricamento and Piazza Cavour, near the ancient port, the main entrance portal opens.

Initially called the sea palace because it directly overlooks the port docks, with the sea lapping its foundations, it was built to a design by Cistercian architect and monk Friar Oliverio around the middle of the 13th century as the seat of the Municipality; it then became the seat of customs and in the 15th century it passed to the Bank of Saint George, from which it took its name. Expanded in the 16th century, it was completely restored in the second half of the 19th century by Alfredo d'Andrade after a period of decay; since 1903 it has housed the offices of the Genoese port authority.