Casa di Colombo, Porta Soprana e Chiostro di Sant'Andrea

Near one of the central areas of Genoa's city center, close to Piazza Dante, lies a medieval island of particular charm. Walking up the short brick-paved slope of the historic Vico Dritto di Ponticello means strolling through Genoa's history. Going up, on the right, you'll find the House where Christopher Columbus lived as a child, when he was between four and nine years old: it's a small but dense visitable memorial dedicated to history's most important explorer. Immediately after is the medieval cloister of the monastic church of Sant'Andrea, which was located where the Bank of Italy building stands today and has been reconstructed here after the demolition of the medieval church and convent of which it is the only remaining evidence. At the top of the slope stands the austere Porta Soprana, the eastern entrance to the medieval city, built by the Genoese between 1155 and 1158, to defend against an attack (which never occurred) by Frederick Barbarossa's troops.