Itinerary 2 |
Venezia Nuova |
Piazza del Luogo Pio, Church of San Ferdinando, Bottini dell’Olio, City Museum, Church of Santa Caterina,
New Fortress, Via Borra
New Fortress, Via Borra
The most picturesque and fascinating part of Livorno is undoubtedly the Venezia Nuova [New Venice] Quarter, so called by the Venetian workforce engaged in its construction in the seventeenth century, on account of its characteristic canal network (the Fossi), devised to facilitate the mercantile and commercial activities of the town.
A pleasant stroll around this neighbourhood, made up of canals broken up by bridges looked onto by little streets with colourful, quirky names (Scali del Pesce, Via delle Acciughe, Scali delle Ancore, Via delle Barchette [referring to fish, anchovies, anchors and boats]), lets you discover quaint little corners, picture-postcard views and the most unexpected features.
Given that there was much trade with the Orient in Livorno, various lazarettos were built over the decades: the Fanale (1552) near the lighthouse; shortly afterwards, San Rocco (1590, in the area where the Orlando Shipyard stands today); then San Jacopo (1648); and finally, San Leopoldo (1779). These were large medical facilities used for the quarantining of both crew members and suspect goods, in order to avoid cholera epidemics or other serious contagions. Meanwhile, Livorno grew in demographic terms with this highly functional district. The patrician townhouses in the streets and canals of the Venezia Nuova Quarter were ideal for the wealthy merchants who resided there, with storerooms on the lower floors. The huge varieties of merchandise in the holds of the ships docked in the harbour were transported directly via canal to the warehouses that were located along the canalsides, level with the water. In the eighteenth century, the city achieved supremacy in the merchandise deposit and transhipment trade, becoming a famous, booming city-emporium that was cosmopolitan not just in terms of trade, culture and religion, but also for the civil respect that prevailed among the representatives of various Nations. Today, the presence of so many foreigners over the centuries is documented by the numerous foreign cemeteries and places of worship in the town.For many years a spectacular event, much loved and attended by the locals, Effetto Venezia, has been held in the quarter. Music, street theatre and a vibrant market enliven the streets along the canals, while a myriad lights illuminate lots of crowded little restaurants.
So let’s start our tour of Venezia Nuova. Leaving behind us the Palazzo della Dogana and passing the Ponte di Marmo [Marble Bridge], we reach the Piazza del Luogo Pio, a huge, unadorned, almost bare square, which shows evidence of bombing from the Second World War in an expanse of empty spaces. Here, between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries a housing complex, the Case Pie [Pious Houses] was built, a charitable institution used for accommodating the poor and preparing orphan girls for female employment. Hence the name of the square.
A pleasant stroll around this neighbourhood, made up of canals broken up by bridges looked onto by little streets with colourful, quirky names (Scali del Pesce, Via delle Acciughe, Scali delle Ancore, Via delle Barchette [referring to fish, anchovies, anchors and boats]), lets you discover quaint little corners, picture-postcard views and the most unexpected features.
Given that there was much trade with the Orient in Livorno, various lazarettos were built over the decades: the Fanale (1552) near the lighthouse; shortly afterwards, San Rocco (1590, in the area where the Orlando Shipyard stands today); then San Jacopo (1648); and finally, San Leopoldo (1779). These were large medical facilities used for the quarantining of both crew members and suspect goods, in order to avoid cholera epidemics or other serious contagions. Meanwhile, Livorno grew in demographic terms with this highly functional district. The patrician townhouses in the streets and canals of the Venezia Nuova Quarter were ideal for the wealthy merchants who resided there, with storerooms on the lower floors. The huge varieties of merchandise in the holds of the ships docked in the harbour were transported directly via canal to the warehouses that were located along the canalsides, level with the water. In the eighteenth century, the city achieved supremacy in the merchandise deposit and transhipment trade, becoming a famous, booming city-emporium that was cosmopolitan not just in terms of trade, culture and religion, but also for the civil respect that prevailed among the representatives of various Nations. Today, the presence of so many foreigners over the centuries is documented by the numerous foreign cemeteries and places of worship in the town.For many years a spectacular event, much loved and attended by the locals, Effetto Venezia, has been held in the quarter. Music, street theatre and a vibrant market enliven the streets along the canals, while a myriad lights illuminate lots of crowded little restaurants.
So let’s start our tour of Venezia Nuova. Leaving behind us the Palazzo della Dogana and passing the Ponte di Marmo [Marble Bridge], we reach the Piazza del Luogo Pio, a huge, unadorned, almost bare square, which shows evidence of bombing from the Second World War in an expanse of empty spaces. Here, between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries a housing complex, the Case Pie [Pious Houses] was built, a charitable institution used for accommodating the poor and preparing orphan girls for female employment. Hence the name of the square.
Arriving in the square, the outline of the Church of San Ferdinando Re looms before us; its simple facade, with thebricks arranged in horizontal stripes, certainly gives no clue as to the rich Baroque decoration concealed within. The construction dates from the beginning of the eighteenth century and was designed by the architects Giovan Battista Foggini and subsequently Giovanni del Fantasia. The polychromatic marble floor is exquisite. The marble sculpture in exuberant Baroque style on the high altar, The Vision of St John of Matha, is by Giovanni Baratta.
Continuing along the square, at the far end, we find the large building known as the Bottini dell’Olio, situated behind a deconsecrated church, the Church of the Vergine Assunta and of San Giuseppe, also known as the Church of Luogo Pio. Built between 1698 and 1703 as an olive oil warehouse, it met the requirements of the merchandise storage system of the time. In an enormous rectangular space, with its vaulted ceiling, stand about three hundred stone containers covered with slate used to preserve oil, a precious commodity that the merchants paid a monthly fee to store there. The complex has now been completely restored and houses the Museo della città [City Museum] on the ground floor, and on the first floor part of the Biblioteca Labronica, the town library. Wandering along the canalsides we come into Scali Rosciano, where you cannot but notice a large four-storey palazzo, commissioned by the Ligurian merchant, Giuseppe Rosciano. This is now the HQ of the Port Authority.
Standing as a testament to the humanitarian policies of Cosimo III de’ Medici is the Palazzo del Refugio, built with the aim of helping the needy. The building, which dates from 1682, was established, therefore, with similar aims in mind as the Case Pie, but in this case, it was orphan boys who were prepared for maritime work.
Continuing along the square, at the far end, we find the large building known as the Bottini dell’Olio, situated behind a deconsecrated church, the Church of the Vergine Assunta and of San Giuseppe, also known as the Church of Luogo Pio. Built between 1698 and 1703 as an olive oil warehouse, it met the requirements of the merchandise storage system of the time. In an enormous rectangular space, with its vaulted ceiling, stand about three hundred stone containers covered with slate used to preserve oil, a precious commodity that the merchants paid a monthly fee to store there. The complex has now been completely restored and houses the Museo della città [City Museum] on the ground floor, and on the first floor part of the Biblioteca Labronica, the town library. Wandering along the canalsides we come into Scali Rosciano, where you cannot but notice a large four-storey palazzo, commissioned by the Ligurian merchant, Giuseppe Rosciano. This is now the HQ of the Port Authority.
Standing as a testament to the humanitarian policies of Cosimo III de’ Medici is the Palazzo del Refugio, built with the aim of helping the needy. The building, which dates from 1682, was established, therefore, with similar aims in mind as the Case Pie, but in this case, it was orphan boys who were prepared for maritime work.
Nearby, in Piazza dei Domenicani, we find the Church of Santa Caterina, with its octagonal layout, topped with a majestic dome that soars to 63 metres. The construction work began in 1720 in accordance with a design by Giovanni del Fantasia. The fresco inside the dome is the work of Cesare Maffei, who set a nineteenth-century record: the frescoed area was the largest in Tuscany. One can admire frescoes by Giuseppe Maria Terreni in the chapels. On the high altar, there stands out a painting of oil on wood by Giorgio Vasari which depicts the Coronation of the Virgin. Since the second half of the eighteenth century, the church has been in the hands of the Dominican Order, who already occupied the adjacent convent. During Napoleonic domination, the convent was converted to a prison and continued to serve this function even in the twentieth century. Sandro Pertini and Ilio Barontini, among others, were incarcerated there.
Close to the Church of Santa Caterina stands the imposing structure of the Fortezza Nuova [New Fortress]. In 1576, Bernardo Buontalenti was tasked by Francesco I with designing the defence works of the new city. To assure effective protection from external attacks and from smuggling, the Old Fortress was no longer deemed adequate for new needs.
Close to the Church of Santa Caterina stands the imposing structure of the Fortezza Nuova [New Fortress]. In 1576, Bernardo Buontalenti was tasked by Francesco I with designing the defence works of the new city. To assure effective protection from external attacks and from smuggling, the Old Fortress was no longer deemed adequate for new needs.
The design for the new fortress was entrusted to Buontalenti, backed this time by Don Giovanni de’ Medici, illegitimate son of Cosimo I, and so it was that in 1590 the first stone of the enormous defensive structure that would become the New Fortress was laid.
The work dragged on for thirty years or so, involving thousands of slaves and peasants, who also worked on the excavation of the Fosso Reale, a wide canal that surrounded the Fortress. In parallel with security requirements, there was also the need to enlarge the town to keep up with the population increase, so the new districts of San Marco and Venezia Nuova came into being.
After several years, a substantial part of the New Fortress was lost to the expansion project; two-thirds of it was demolished. The third that remains today is enclosed by walls that stretch for an amazing two kilometres. Now the Fortress is used as a public park, with spaces devoted to cultural events.
From Piazza dei Domenicani there begins one of the most architecturally elegant streets of Livorno, Via Borra, where merchants and consuls of various Nations had their Baroque-style mansions, which also had a rear view of the canals, where the hustle and bustle of trade was non-stop. Particularly notable are Palazzo delle Colonne, the residence of a merchant from Lucca, with imposing marble columns that support the overhanging balcony, and Palazzo Huigens, commissioned by a merchant from Cologne, which boasts a spacious internal cloister surrounded by loggias on all floors.