Chiesa SS. Annunziata di Portoria o S. Caterina da Genova
The complex of the Annunciation of Portoria was built by Minors in 1488 on a building started in 1422 and adjacent to the Hospital of Pammatone; from the original Gothic structure there are only part of the frescoes in the cloister, attributed to Lorenzo Fasolo, while is from 1521 the double portal of the facade of P. A. Piuma, completed in the '700 by a Baroque pediment from Casaregis and a stucco relief with the Annunciation by Schiaffino. In 1538 part of the convent was demolished because of the works to the new walls, and restructured in 1556, at the request of the Protectors of the Hospital; for all '500, important Genoese families call the best artists to decorate the chapels: Baptist Grimaldi commissioned the frescoes of the vault of the apse and the presbytery to G. B. Castello and then to Luca Cambiaso, already in charge of decorating the Chapel of the Magi, while the frescoes and the paintings of the other chapels have been awarded to local artists like the brothers Semino and Calvi. The tomb of Catherine Fieschi Adorno, a noblewoman who was dedicated to care the sicks of Pammatone, is located in the gallery above the main entrance, and in 1737 gets a real mausoleum, designed by Schiaffino, who returns to occupy the aisle right of the church since the Second World War. Since 1977, the convent is home to the Museum of Cultural Capuchin; the chapel was enlarged in 1772 and connected by a wide staircase to the square; from 2004 is used as a multi-purpose hall for exhibitions, conferences and concerts.
