Description
The Palazzo del Governo, also called the Palazzo della Provincia, is the seat of the Prefecture and the Province of La Spezia. Built in 1928 to a design by Franco Oliva, it is a compact, solemn official building, eclectic with Deco touches, worth a look for the richness of its decoration.
On the facade, rustication, pedimented windows and composite columns frame the reliefs and statues by the sculptor Augusto Magli. Inside, the highlight is the atrium with its great scissor staircase and wooden ceiling, amid bronzes, Portoro marble and stained-glass windows.
Oliva believed an architect should take care of everything, down to the smallest details of the furnishings. Here he really did: he himself designed the staircase, bronzes, woodwork and marble of the first palazzo of the new Province, created in 1923. The original paintings are by the painter Antonio Discovolo and two other artists; some of the stained-glass windows were added later, in 1957.
On the facade, rustication, pedimented windows and composite columns frame the reliefs and statues by the sculptor Augusto Magli. Inside, the highlight is the atrium with its great scissor staircase and wooden ceiling, amid bronzes, Portoro marble and stained-glass windows.
Oliva believed an architect should take care of everything, down to the smallest details of the furnishings. Here he really did: he himself designed the staircase, bronzes, woodwork and marble of the first palazzo of the new Province, created in 1923. The original paintings are by the painter Antonio Discovolo and two other artists; some of the stained-glass windows were added later, in 1957.