Monday, January 18, 2010

Cisternino di città

Cisternino di città, Livorno
One of the few buildings in “Via Grande” still standing in after the air raids of the last war was the “Cisternino di città” (city small cistern). Its wall facing “Piazza della Repubblica” is still scarred by the shrapnel, as you can see behind the statue of Giovanni Fattori.Cisternino di città, LivornoAn impressive picture of the destruction around the “Cisternino” and “Piazza della Repubblica”, taken in 1943 after one of the raids.
Cisternino di città, Livorno
The neoclassical building was completed in 1848 on a design by the architect Pasquale Poccianti within the project for the “Acquedotto Leopoldino” (Leopoldine Aqueduct), but it was never used as a cistern.
Cisternino di città, Livorno
After the war it was used for years as “Casa della Cultura” (Culture House) and is currently under renovation.

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29 comments:

Luis Gomez said...

Great building and thank you for the history of it. Love the old B&W photo.

BlossomFlowerGirl said...

Great architecture. I love the fancy street light.
Cheers.
Melbourne Daily Photo

Lowell said...

Fascinating building, fascinating story. Wars are so damn devastating - and for what?

I think the world's people ought to pass a law that politicians could start a war only if they fought on the front lines as regular soldiers!

Anyway, I'm glad this is still standing (I can see the shrapnel marks!) and that it's being renovated.

brattcat said...

That historic shot is shattering but also amazing.

Unseen Rajasthan said...

Beautiful Architecture !!

Dina said...

That building has been through a lot.
It pains me to see our cities' treasures made into rubble by war.
You know, VP, my father was in the U.S. Army Air Corps, pilot of a B-24 Liberator flying out of Italy.
Sigh ...

joo said...

Really handsome building - good it survived!
Nice week to you:)

Thérèse said...

A very good idea to show now and then.

Eleonora Baldwin said...

Thank you for sharing the story behind this lovely building. I love the marks on the marble.

Ciao
Eleonora

Gena D said...

At least they' re keeping it intact ... I love a hppy ending when it comes to heritage!!!
Gena @ Thinking Aloud
a photoblog
South Africa

Gunn said...

Impressive building, sad and interesting to know the history (from 1943.)..... One more thing,- I think I have become so much more aware of street lamps.... including the one in your first photograph.

cieldequimper said...

Simple but effective architecture.

Clueless in Boston said...

I like the idea that they didn't repair the shrapnel marks in the building. It is a reminder of the war and hopefully serve as a deterrent.

Cezar and Léia said...

It's impressive to see Giovanni looking so thoughtful and calm in the middle of the hot chaos!
God bless you!
Cezar

lodolite said...

foto sempre interessanti e belle ma la foto con la statua è piuttosto eccezionale.
ciao simona

amatamari© said...

Impressive!
Thanks for the interesting post: this is a monument for the memory!

stromsjo said...

Any idea what would be happening in such a Culture House if it had been open right now?

VP said...

@ Per - I don't know, the idea of a Culture House is so Seventies...

Unknown said...

Actually, it's amazing how much did survive WWII.

It's disheartening to think of what has been destroyed forever in wars.

Ilse said...

Wonderful post. Really like the comparison with the older postcard.

Three Rivers, Michigan said...

What an interesting old building (even if it never was part of the water system) and thanks for the photo of the tragic aftermath of the war.


Three Rivers Daily Photo

Wolynski said...

The statue survived? Does it have shrapnel?

Andreea said...

Beautiful building and a very interesting story. The after the war photo is very heartbreaking. It's good to see images like this from time to time to remind us that we've come a long way and we should not return to that.

Babzy.B said...

Very interesting post !

Hilda said...

I was about to say that that's the fanciest cistern I've ever seen, then I got to the part about it never having been used as one. Love the lamp post in front of it.

About the old photo, that's pretty much what Manila looked like after the war too. My maternal grandfather was killed by shrapnel and the walls of the house (still in the family) bear their marks still, under the vines.

VP said...

@ Dina - Luckily my family didn't live in Livorno then, the center and the port were almost obliterated. There is a video on Youtube of an actual air raid on our city.

VP said...

@ Wolynski - The statue was lucky and is still there.
@ Andreea - The photo is not after but during thewar. I'm not sure, but this was one of the first raids of a long series.

Unknown said...

Really impressive the photo taken in 1943! The building looks magnificent now and I like the first composition very much.

Anonymous said...

War is horrible human activity. My grandfather was a WWII veteran.