La Commenda di Pre

About

The Commenda di Prè is a complex of two beautiful churches, located one on top of the other: a medieval diamond of outstanding beauty. Built in 1180 by the will of Friar Guglielmo of the Knights of St. John – which later became the Order of the Knights of Malta –, the Commenda became a place of support and assistance for pilgrims and crusaders travelling to or from the Holy Land. Among its illustrious guests were two Popes: Pope Urban V, passing through Genoa on his way to Rome in 1367, and Pope Urbano VI, who settled there for over a year between 1385 and 1836. After forty years of restoration work, in 2009 the Mu. MA reopened the Commenda to the public, organising a “museum-theatre” exhibition with the strong message that “Nobody should feel a stranger in Genoa”. A multimedia instalment animates the ancient walls, bringing back to life the characters of Genoese, Latin, Frankish, Muslim, and Jewish medieval history.