PILLARS OF SHAME

Everyone has heard about monuments built in honor of something or somebody. But the Genovese have gone one step further: in this city there are monuments in order to remember something that is shameful or disgraceful. There are at least two pillars of shame (colonna infame) in the city centre. My friend Mary took me to see one of them and it has actually been put there to shame the city of Genoa itself.

This pillar of shame can be found very close to Museo di Sant'Agostino in Piazza di Sarzano.

This particular pillar is a reminder of the fact that when the city of Genoa decided to re-built a specific part of the historical centre, they destroyed a whole neighbourhood in the process, including the birth place of violonist Niccolo Paganini. Even though a new house has been built nearby to mark Paganini's birth place, it is not quite the same say those who would have preferred to visit the original one.



On top of the pilar, there is a proverb saying "Do no evil, have no fear". There is also list of all the original neighbourhoods which were destroyed in the building process: Marina, Via Madre di Dio, Via del Colle, Portoria, Sarzano e Ravecca. At the end there is a quote from Franz Lizt:  "There will never be another Paganini".