History

The hospital was a special place, seemingly similar to our idea of "hospital," : it was open to all, offering shelter to both the healthy and the sick, the rich like knights who fell ill during their travels, pilgrims, and sometimes even the poor of the city. The hospital was also a place of religious welcome, where the rows of beds and the nave of the church were seamlessly connected, in line with the typical Christian medieval concept that both body and soul should be cared for together. The Hospital of the Commenda of San Giovanni di Prè was managed and run by a religious and military order, the Knights Hospitaller, named after the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem founded in the second half of the 11th century. They were known throughout history by various names: Hospitallers, Gerosolimitani, Knights of Rhodes, and finally, Knights of Malta.

This place connected the land routes—various trade and pilgrimage roads linking Genoa and Northern Italy to Western and Northern Europe—with the sea routes, which from the 11th century onwards were controlled by the Genoese, linking the African shore of the Mediterranean with Asia Minor, the coastlines of Syria, Palestine, and Egypt.

Along these roads and routes, during the Crusades (from 1095 to 1291) and for at least two centuries, knights, soldiers, merchants, clergy, and pilgrims passed through Genoa and found hospitality and shelter here. They were returning from travels by land and sea, witnesses to events such as the departure of the Crusades, the conquest of Antioch and Jerusalem, the mutual massacres of Christians and Muslims, as well as Jews, Armenians, and many minorities who had always lived in the East. Occasionally, there were women as well, though most of the female pilgrims were housed in the nearby Monastery of San Leonardo.

In the 19th century, the Commenda complex experienced the city's expansion westward. With the construction of the railway station at Piazza Principe and the creation of the Federico Guglielmo Maritime Bridge, the building ended up in the area where emigrants about to embark for the Americas would gather.

After forty years of architectural restorations, artistic renovations, and archaeological research, overseen by the local Superintendencies in collaboration with the Municipality of Genoa, the Hospital of San Giovanni di Prè became one of the most extraordinary monuments of its kind, as well as one of the oldest and best-preserved buildings in Genoa.