Thursday, August 26, 2010

Porticoes

Porticoes of via Grande, LivornoVia Grande”, our main street, was practically destroyed by the Allied air raids. After the war the only building still standing was the “Palazzo del Picchetto”.Old postcard, corso Vittorio Emanuele, LivornoAfter the war the whole street was rebuilt with wide porticoes flanking both sides, from “Piazza Guerrazzi” to the Old Harbor.Porticoes of via Grande, LivornoThere were shops, bars, movie theaters and even two department stores. Now some of the old shops are closing for good, the movie theaters are gone and only a few international chains are opening new stores.

See also: Ferragosto

15 comments:

Luis Gomez said...

Just gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

Looks like a place where time slows down - wishing it only the very best and much success in future years as well.

Hilda said...

The porticoes are so much prettier, but I am sad to hear about the closure of smaller shops.

Dina said...

The porticoes give nicer shadow shots than the old awnings.

I hate to think of how your city was bombed. It is hard even to imagine.

cieldequimper said...

Sad, it's the same story everywhere. No more independent and therefore interesting shops anywhere, nothing but the same old crap everywhere. What's it called? Globalisation? Standardisation? 'Stupidisation'?
The way it was rebuilt is nice though.

Small City Scenes said...

I think it is so sad that the small shops and even the movie theatres are closing. Big Box stores---BOO!
The street was rebuilt beautifully but.....MB

Cezar and Léia said...

But I think it's beautiful, I mean I'm enchanted by your last picture, with the perfect light and perspective in those arches.Anyway I like this kind of "open"mall.
Léia

joo said...

The same everywhere, but the street still looks great!
The first photo is fabulous!

Kaori said...

A lot of the shopping arcades here are closing because of the economy. They're called 'shutter street' because the shutters of the store do not open even during the daytime. But your street looks lovely! The lighting and the angle are beautiful :D

Rob Siemann said...

At least, you can still enjoy the shade.

B SQUARED said...

It's the same sad story everywhere these days.

Halcyon said...

It's sad to hear all the local stores are closing. Globilazation is not that great for some things. It's sort of sad that everyone around the world now wears the same Gap t-shirt.

It looks like a nice place for a stroll though. I love those arches.

Unknown said...

I took a very similar shot to the top one in Lisbon two days ago. I just love the repetion and shadows on these arcade images.

Francisca said...

Sad wherever this happens... but doubly sad when the place is so charming.

LindyLouMac said...

it looks like thanks to italy tutto I have discovered another italy blog.

I have just had a quick browse but as I am very keen on photography will definitely be back.