Current name: Piazza Della Repubblica (Republic Square)
Original name: Piazza della Rivoluzione fascista (Square of the Fascist Revolution)
City: Tresigallo (FE) (ITA)
Address: Piazza Della Repubblica
Year of construction: 1937
Designer: Carlo Frighi based on an idea by Edmondo Rossoni
Clients: Public
Architectural style: Modernist – Littorio with references to Rationalist solutions – Eclecticism
Notes: Piazza Della Repubblica is included in a dedicated itinerary in this guide
Superintendency restriction – historical and artistic significance
The term “platea”, derived from the Greek plateus (wide, spacious) and the Latin platea (square), perfectly captures the essence of Piazza Della Repubblica (the Fascist Revolution Square of 1937). Its D-shaped layout mirrors the geometry of theaters, where the stalls are the reception area. The Tresigallese plateus was born precisely with a dual purpose: both as a square and as a theater stalls.
When Edmondo Rossoni, a controversial fascist leader, designed the new Tresigallo, he placed the “piazza maggiore” on the city’s main axis, in the heart of the new town. The outline of the large open space was surrounded by residential buildings, which on the ground floor offered a series of shops served by a modern loggia. Thanks to its shape, the square hosted numerous theatrical and musical performances, which Rossoni was keen to promote. The powerful fascist’s great passion for music was also fulfilled in the construction of a theater, a dance hall, and, indeed, a square whose shape favored acoustics.
A few stylistic touches are not enough to give the square a Rationalist appearance. The modernity is evident, but the choice of materials, the prominent use of cornices, the application of some brick moldings, and the construction of gabled roofs place the architectural group among works tied to tradition. It was the factories, in their ideological task of modernizing the small Ferrara village, that brought the greatest architectural innovation. The loggias of the homes are characterized by different flooring types. The “marmetto” tiles, present in the curvilinear portico, identify the buildings intended for factory managers, while the tiled concrete ones likely characterize the porticos of the workers’ homes. When it was created, the square was decorated with a double row of trees and a series of street lamps, which have now been reproduced and relocated by the Municipality.
At the center of the area is a beautiful fountain surrounded by four young bronze gazelles drinking. The symbolism, difficult to pin down, appears unrelated to that strictly tied to the regime’s propaganda. And speaking of symbolism, it’s worth noting that the aforementioned cardo (now Via Filippo Corridoni) originates in the square and then continues straight until it ends at the entrance to the new cemetery. Within those sacred walls, Rossoni built his monumental mausoleum, at the northernmost point.
