MERCATO DELLE VETTOVAGLIE MARKET OF FOOD

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MERCATO DELLE VETTOVAGLIE MARKET OF FOOD

• CENTRAL MARKET IN LIVORNO

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GENERALITY

• Market of food, also known as Central or covered
  Market, stands on the Aurelio Saffi slips, along
  the Royal Canal in Livorno. It is one of the most
  interesting buildings in Livorno of the second
  half of the nineteenth century, where there is
  also the influence of Iron and glass large
  architecture of the nineteenth century.

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HISTORY

• In Italy, the post-unification years were
  marked by a campaign for the reorganization of
  services that also invested Livorno . Here,
  after an initial conversion of heritage buildings
  acquired by the state, a more substantial
  commitment came only in the late nineteenth
  century, when important public works were built ,
  among these, the most impressive and certainly
  proved to be challenging was the Market of food,
  designed by Angiolo Badaloni.

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HISTORY

• The area chosen for the construction was located
  in the centre, along the Royal Canal, the area
  once occupied by the complex Medici system of
  fortifications and then by an arena for shows
  during the day. Works began in 1889 and ended
  quickly in 1894, at the time, however, there were
  criticisms related to the large size and the cost
  (about 4 million Lire) of the work.

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HISTORY

• It should be noted that, according to the
  accounts of the painter Leghorn Filippelli,
  around 1909, the famous Amedeo Modigliani
  returning from Paris, rented a large room on the
  upper floors of the building of the provisions of
  the Market, corner of Via Gherardo of the head,
  and wears the stones began to making sculpture,
  producing a few heads. On his return to France,
  it is said that these works have been thrown into
  the Royal Canal, ditch, in 1984, was the scene of
  the famous discovery of some fake heads, made by
  some young Leghorn.

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DESCRIPTION

• The main facade, well 95 metres wide, is
  characterized by two rows of round-arched windows
  that provide maximum light to the building, while
  the entrance is highlighted by four columns
  supporting a marked entablature. The front and
  rear one present instead a simplification of the
  decoration, while proposing the theme of large
  window openings. The interior consists mainly of
  a large hall and several smaller pavilions at the
  rear, along the way Buontalenti.

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DESCRIPTION

• The main saloon, embellished with some caryatids
  made by Lorenzo Gori, is covered by a small
  skylight, restored after the war as a result of
  damage suffered during the bombing of 1943 many
  metal trusses, with floral drawings, mark the
  roof at about 35 metres height from the ground.