Window in Green

This beautiful window faces a square officially named “Piazza della Vittoria” (Victory Square). Anyway, if you ever come to Livorno, don't ask for it because, after 80 years, everybody still call it with its old name: “Piazza Magenta”.

Lighthouse & Lamp Posts

Three lamp posts and and the “fanale” few days ago, when the weather was better...

See also: Beacon of the Pisans

Three Little Owls

A newspaper billboard is called in italian “civetta”, which is literally little owl, but also means coquette, flirt or tease. So these devices are commonly referred as "civette" because their purpose is to entice the passer-by into buying the actual paper.
“La Nazione” (The Nation), a florentine newspaper with a local news desk, is the oldest of the three: its first number made its appearance in 1859. It has a moderate conservative political line.
“Il Telegrafo” (The Telegraph) was born a moderate voice in 1877, switching to a more leftist point of view after the last war.
After several changes of heading, in 1976 became “Il Tirreno” for good. Edited and printed in Livorno it has the largest circulation and is a sort of local newspaper of record, extensively quoted in any conversation.
The “Corriere di Livorno” (Messenger of Livorno) issued its first copy only in September 2007. Its editorial offices are in “Piazza Attias”, just across the street from the above owls, and is co-owned by a local soccer star.

See also: Bad News

Chamber of Commerce

The majestic building of the “Camera di Commercio” (Chamber of Commerce) was built in 1648 as a Customs House by Annibale Cecchi of Pistoia. It faces what is now “Piazza del Municipio” (Town Hall Square) and has an imposing portico, with three arches supported by rusticated sandstone pillars, closed by iron gates.If you compare the above photo with the same building in this print by the painter Giuseppe Maria Terreni (Livorno, 1739-1811), dating back to circa 1785, you can see no major differences after so many years.

Beyond the Gate

The gate of a beautiful villa on “Via Montebello”. This street follows the path of the so called Lorraine or Leopoldine city walls, built in 1835 by the Grand Duke of Tuscany Leopold II and demolished in 1888.

Red Flowers

Early afternoon, wall pots with red flowers along a gray and quiet “Via Magenta”.

Everyday Chimera

All the transportation I need to go to work are my shoes. During this short walk to the office I pass near several things of interest and, by the way, I can also have a look at a Chimera. About this mythological creature Wikipedia says:

In Greek mythology, the Chimera was a monstrous creature of Lycia in Asia Minor, composed of the parts of multiple animals: upon the body of a lioness with a tail that terminated in a snake's head, the head of a goat arose on her back at the center of her spine.

I do not really know why they put this ceramic bas-relief of a giant Chimera on this ugly building facing “Piazza del Municipio” (Town Hall Square), but there it is in all its colorful madness.

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