Christopher Columbus, whose real name was Cristóforo Colombo, was born in 1451 in the Republic of Genoa, a powerful maritime city-state in present-day Italy. Although his early life in Genoa is not accurately documented, it is known that he came from a modest merchant family.
The house of Christopher Columbus in Genoa is a significant historic place and one of the most visited places in the city. However, it is important to note that the existence of a specific house where Columbus lived in Genoa has been subject of debate and there is no absolute certainty about it. Despite this, there is a house in Genoa that has been identified as the possible birthplace or residence of Columbus, and is known as the “Casa di Colombo” or "House of Columbus". Everything seems to indicate that the great navigator lived there between 1455 and 1470 with his parents Doménico Colombus and Susana Fontanarossa and two brothers.
The Casa di Colombo is located in the heart of the Genoa historic center, in Via Porta Soprana. It is a two-story building dating from the 13th and 14th centuries, with a typical architecture of the time. The facade of the house is made of stone and presents an austere and medieval appearance.
According to historian Marcello Staglieno, the original house was destroyed during the French bombardment of Genoa in 1684. At the beginning of the 18th century, it was rebuilt on the foundations of the old residence, considered as the original house according to contemporary documentation. The reconstructed structure had five floors, although the upper levels were built by placing beams on the adjacent buildings.
Later, around the year 1900, during the demolition of neighboring buildings as part of the construction of Via XX Settembre, the upper floors of this building were removed, reducing it to its current height of two floors. Today the house has been adapted to house a very small museum dedicated to the way of life at the time when Christopher Columbus and his family inhabited it.
Although Columbus left Genoa before he was twenty, his hometown was the place where he acquired the fundamentals of
navigation and maritime trade, laying the foundations for their future explorations.
