Piazza De Ferrari is the main square

Piazza

A piazza is a city square in Italy, Malta, along the Dalmatian coast and in surrounding regions. The term is roughly equivalent to the Spanish plaza...

 of Genoa

Genoa

Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

.

Situated in the heart of the city between the historical and the modern center, Piazza De Ferrari is renowned for its fountain, which was restored in recent years along with a major restyling of the square.

Today next to Piazza De Ferrari are numerous office buildings, headquarters of banks, insurances and other private companies, making of this district the financial and business centre of Genoa, so that Genoeses popularly refer to it as the "City" of Genoa.

At the end of the 19th century Genoa was the main financial centre of Italy along with Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

, and Piazza De Ferrari was the place were many institutions were established, like the stock exchange, the Credito Italiano

Credito Italiano

Credito Italiano it was an Italian bank, now part of UniCredit Group. It was absorbed by Unicredit in 1998.Founded on April 28 1870 in Genoa as Banca di Genova, it took part in the establishment of Banco d'Italia and...

 , the branch offices of the Bank of Italy

Banca d'Italia

Banca d'Italia is the central bank of Italy and part of the European System of Central Banks. It is located in Palazzo Koch, Roma, via Nazionale...

, founded in 1893.

Historical palaces

Next to the square are several historical palaces and buildings.

• The Palace of the Doges
  Palazzo Ducale (Genoa)
  The Doge's Palace is a historical building in Genoa, northern Italy.Once the home of the Doges of Genoa, it is now a museum and a centre for cultural events and arts exhibitions...
  
  
• The headquarters of the Ligurian Region (the former Palazzo Italia di Navigazione).
• The palace of the Ligurian Academy of Fine Arts, founded in 1741.
• The Theatre Carlo Felice
  Teatro Carlo Felice
  The Teatro Carlo Felice is the principal opera house of Genoa, Italy, used for performances of opera, ballet, orchestral music, and recitals. It is located on the Piazza De Ferrari....
  
  , with its neoclassic
  Neoclassicism
  Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
  
   pronao designed by the Italian architect Carlo Barabino and the equestrian statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi
  Giuseppe Garibaldi
  Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian military and political figure. In his twenties, he joined the Carbonari Italian patriot revolutionaries, and fled Italy after a failed insurrection. Garibaldi took part in the War of the Farrapos and the Uruguayan Civil War leading the Italian Legion, and...
  
  , work of the Italian sculptor Augusto Rivalta
  Augusto Rivalta
  Augusto Rivalta One of the “outstanding Italian sculptors of the late 19th century,’’ Rivalta was born in Alexandria, Egypt to Italian parents. He studied with Aristodemo Costoli and Giovanni Duprè in Florence and in Genoa before settling in Florence...
  
  .
• The building of the stock exchange, built in 1912 by the architect Alfredo Coppedè.
• The palace of the Duke of Galliera, Raffaele De Ferrari, to whom the square is dedicated.