Villa Brignole Sale, also known as Duchess of Galliera mansion , extends with its gardens, for 250.00 square metres behind the Genoa Voltri delegation, just 5 kilometres far from Arenzano.
The main entrance is located in Vico N. Da Corte.
The Villa, which today houses a school, was built by the Brignole family in the seventeenth century, on the ruins of a fourteenth-century castle, but it became famous in Europe in the nineteenth century, thanks to the Dukes of Galliera, who hosted here illustrious figures, including Pope Pius VII, Ferdinand VII king of Naples, the Emperor of Austria Franz Joseph, and William II emperor of Germany.
The park of Villa Duchessa is work of architect Rovelli, who was charged to of give an homogeneous structure to the Villa around 1865. The park is divided into three areas located up to the hill: the Italian garden, under the Brignole Sale palace, the romantic wood, with its spontaneous elements, outcropping rocks and waterfalls, and a meadow area, which is today home of Tibetan deer and goats. The garden was once famous for its camellias and citrus plants collection.
In the last year of II World War, the German troops trying to control the coast and the Leira and Cerusa valleys, equipped the Villa with defensive works: lookout and shelter bunkers are still visible.
On the top of the San Nicolò hill, beyond the north western border of the park, stands the small Sanctuary of “Nostra Signora delle Grazie”, whose origin is traced back to 67 AD
