The S Matteo church was the private church of the Doria family, as can be seen from the eagle motives next to the door.
Inside is buried Andrea Doria, the legendary Genovese admiral, who led a coalition of Spain, Genoa, Venice and the Papacy to victory over the Turks in 1571 at Lepanto.
Oops! Andrea Doria was not present at Lepanto. He died 12 years earlier, at the ripe age of 93.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Doria was a Genovese, most of his fighting was in 'foreign' service, ie France, Spain, the Papacy and the Empire