This is a decoration on top of the wall surrounding the offices of a former factory in “Viale Carducci”, now a community center. We have already seen its beautiful clock in this post.
I am not a great fan of quizzes, but this could be easy: here is a monogram outside the offices with the initials of the old factory. Can you guess the letters composing it?
amatamari© guessed right, the letters are S-I-C-E for “Societa Italiana Cavi Elettrici” (Italian Society Electrical Cables). Brava!
If you check on the left of the castle gate of “Villa Maria”, you can see this ornate building with these great balconies.
It is an eye catching “palazzo” and in perfect condition.
Even the front door has something special.
This small castle is the majestic entrance from “Via Calzabigi” to the park of “Villa Maria”. The villa and its gardens were donated to the municipality of Livorno in 1962 by the heirs of the last owner, Giovanni Lazzara.
The villa itself faces another street, “Via Redi”, and housed a library until a few years ago, when part of the building was closed for safety reasons. A water tower was built for the four greenhouses and the gardens of the villa.
The rest of the building is not kept very well, if we think that is inside a public park. It is officially under restoration, but I have pictures of one year ago which are exactly like these.
Graffitis are almost everywhere, I even saw a couple of dead pigeons in the path leading to the front door of the villa.
This planked-up building faces the playground, a place where kids are supposed to be safe.
The detailed rules at the gate (with even two notes) are perfectly in line with the look of the park.
My first Sunday walk after the Holidays begins with a facade in “Via Oberdan”, seen from “Via Sproni”.
An enigmatic wreath in “Via dell'Olmo” (Elm Street).
Same street, a Santa hopelessly stuck outside a window...
...and another Santa trapped inside a house, behind bars.
In Elm Street you can find an orange tree.
They wrote “Buon Natale” (Merry Christmas) all for themselves...
Venice's “gozzo” and “gozzetta”. Red and white are the colors of the “rione” (quarter) for the rowing competitions along the year. 
“Viale Caprera”, the first part of the canal already redug few years ago, the “micropoles” drill and the church of “San Ferdinando”.
Today is Saint Stephen's Day and it seems a good occasion to thank all the Stefanos (at least four of them) who helped us with access to places, news, facts and historical data.
I have seen many nativity scenes, but these are different.
These have been built inside a purposedly broken “damigiana” (demijohn), a typical large wine container, usually enclosed in wickerwork.
Yesterday, for once, I was not late getting to work, so I stopped in “Piazza Grande” to take a picture of the still lighted Christmas tree in front of the “Duomo”. But there is no tree, only the lights!
New market stalls in “Via della Madonna” with a nice poker of cats.
Boxes of colorful natural soap, for every skin or taste.
Not far, a 65 euro Santa emerging from a chimney. Or is it a well?
The building of the “Banca Nazionale del Lavoro” (National Bank of Work) in “Via Cairoli” has a nice set of bas-reliefs: three panels on each side of the main entrance.
Each panel shows, in a symbolic manner, a different sector of the economy: commercial fishing, maritime trade, agriculture, movie making, constructions and mechanical industry.
Financing films (more than 5000 in about seventy years) from production to distribution has been a traditional business for this bank, since the last years of the fascist period, when the import of American movies was forbidden.
The BNL is now owned by French banking group BNP Paribas.
The “Palazzo Granducale” (Grand Ducal Palace), opposite Town Hall in “Piazza del Municipio”, houses the offices of the “Provincia di Livorno”.It was built in the early 17th Century following a project by Antonio Cantagallina for the Grand Duke Ferdinando I. In 1629 Giovan Battista Santi enlarged the building and added the portico toward “Piazza d'Armi”, now “Piazza Grande”. It was used as a residence for visiting sovereigns.
In 1796, during the French invasion, Napoleone Bonaparte stayed here: the building was used as barracks and looted of part of its furniture. Since 1871 it housed various schools, then it was refurbished to become the seat of the Province in 1931.
In this old postcard you can see it on the right, facing “Piazza Vittorio Emanuele”, as it was called “Piazza Grande” about one hundred years ago. Heavily damaged during the war, it was demolished and rebuilt few meters back from the original position, to grant more visibility to Town Hall. Its facade and portico are reminiscent of the old “palazzo”, but the rest is a modern building.
An extensive cleaning of the travertine facade is still in progress.
This is a Sunday walk with a Christmas theme: decorations, shop windows and market stalls. Our first stop is for a balcony in “Via Calzabigi”, one of the more elegant street in Livorno.
The expression of this mannequin in “Via Ricasoli” is interesting.
Benches await customers outside a crêperie in the same street.
“Via Ricasoli” seen from “Piazza Cavour” in the early afternoon: at this time of the day this street is usually almost desert.
A cheap but colorful “presepe” (nativity scene) in a market stall.
A wild-eyed and pink-faced “Babbo Natale”, in strange company.
“Offerta”: on special offer. “Consegna a domicilio”: home delivery.
It is not enough cold to keep people from using their boats, as you can see in these pictures taken last week.
We can observe their clothing while they are coming back to port.
Maybe in a hurry to get something warm, after some time at sea.
The oldest part of the port of Livorno, the “Pamiglione”, with the “Fortezza Vecchia” (Old Fortress) and the “Mastio di Matilde” (Matilda's Keep) in background.
A wider view of the “Pamiglione”.
