Description
Piazza Garibaldi is the pedestrian square in the centre of La Spezia where Via del Prione, Via Fiume, Via Spallanzani, Via Garibaldi and Via Torino meet: a crossroads for strolling, with a white marble fountain in the middle and Art Nouveau buildings all around.
Its highlight is the Fontana del Dialogo (Fountain of Dialogue), unveiled in 2002 and carved from Carrara marble by Viliano Tarabella, a sculptor from Pietrasanta, to a design by the architects Antonio Leone and Cesarina Zanetti.
In the middle of the round basin rises a hollow, abstract sculpture: two large sails that interlock and converge upwards, where the jet of water springs out. The pale bottom of the basin, also carefully chosen, brings out the clarity of the water.
The fountain's name is no accident. The ring of the balustrade is deliberately smooth, so you can sit a few centimetres from the water: the fountain is meant as a place to stop and chat with passers-by, rather than a monument to look at from a distance.
It is worth coming back in the evening: spotlights set inside the basin light the sails from below and make the marble shimmer. The two sails recall the sea, and ideally link the fountain to the city's two other great fountains, in Piazza Brin and Piazza Europa.
All around, the restored Art Nouveau buildings form the backdrop. The square's irregular shape has a story: here the old road to Genoa, which continued Via del Prione, crossed the 19th-century "military road", today's Via Garibaldi, laid out to link the station to the Arsenal.
The square is dedicated to Giuseppe Garibaldi, who stopped in La Spezia several times: in 1849, after the fall of the Roman Republic, he found welcome and protection here. This is also where Via del Prione begins, the old pedestrian lane of the historic centre, with its shops, bookshops, restaurants and bars.
Its highlight is the Fontana del Dialogo (Fountain of Dialogue), unveiled in 2002 and carved from Carrara marble by Viliano Tarabella, a sculptor from Pietrasanta, to a design by the architects Antonio Leone and Cesarina Zanetti.
In the middle of the round basin rises a hollow, abstract sculpture: two large sails that interlock and converge upwards, where the jet of water springs out. The pale bottom of the basin, also carefully chosen, brings out the clarity of the water.
The fountain's name is no accident. The ring of the balustrade is deliberately smooth, so you can sit a few centimetres from the water: the fountain is meant as a place to stop and chat with passers-by, rather than a monument to look at from a distance.
It is worth coming back in the evening: spotlights set inside the basin light the sails from below and make the marble shimmer. The two sails recall the sea, and ideally link the fountain to the city's two other great fountains, in Piazza Brin and Piazza Europa.
All around, the restored Art Nouveau buildings form the backdrop. The square's irregular shape has a story: here the old road to Genoa, which continued Via del Prione, crossed the 19th-century "military road", today's Via Garibaldi, laid out to link the station to the Arsenal.
The square is dedicated to Giuseppe Garibaldi, who stopped in La Spezia several times: in 1849, after the fall of the Roman Republic, he found welcome and protection here. This is also where Via del Prione begins, the old pedestrian lane of the historic centre, with its shops, bookshops, restaurants and bars.