Palazzo dell'Università, Palace in Genoa, Italy

Palazzo dell'Università stands at Via Balbi 5, built from the 1630s by Bartolomeo Bianco as the Jesuit college. Because the site rises steeply, the building is split into a series of volumes reached by ramps and stairways, a layout resembling Palazzo Tursi. In the monumental atrium, two colossal white marble lions carved to a design by Domenico Parodi around 1700 flank the staircase.

The palace was built in the 1630s as a Jesuit college under architect Bartolomeo Bianco's direction. After approximately 140 years, it became the University of Genoa in 1775 and has served as an academic institution since then.

The Aula Magna, the former spiritual-exercises hall, was frescoed in 1683–1684 by Giovanni Andrea Carlone, who had painted the Gesù in Rome for the same Jesuit order. His wall decoration survives, with grisaille grounds, painted columns and statues, putti and flower garlands. The vault fresco was lost to the 1849 Piedmontese bombardment and its 19th-century replacement to the 1944 Allied raid; Francesco Menzio painted the present religious vault, drawing on Genoese portolan charts.

The building is located at Via Balbi 5 and remains an active university facility with only select areas open to visitors. It is best to check in advance which parts are accessible, as availability may change depending on the academic calendar and university activities.

The Aula della Meridiana is named after a floor sundial in marble and brass, made in 1771 by the French Father Correard. The room later served as a library before the volumes moved to the former church of Santi Gerolamo e Francesco Saverio at Via Balbi 3.