Some facades of the old town of La Spezia are decorated with small delights that come from the past and tell of a different city. Penguins, polar bears and dragonflies are the masters.
There is a La Spezia that is not known. It is the city that hides the secret wonders of it art nouveau period. It is the city that, as with the fantastic futurist mosaics within the Post Office building, to be found with a little ‘patience and – after finding it – to be listened to. Only in this way you can remain amazed, even in La Spezia, in front of Polar Bears , Penguins and dragonflies .
The dance of polar bears and penguins: the Ice Palace (which is today the bank)
Despite the mild weather, even in La Spezia you can see animals that come from the great cold such as the Polar Bears and the Penguins.
Dove? In the Ice Palace, at the cross between via Sprugola and via Colombo.
Built between 1920 and 1923 designed by the architect Franco Oliva , the building was carried out on behalf of the Industrial Società Anonima and it was the town’s Ice Factory .
In this plant it was produced ice for food storage and sculptor Magli decorated the facade with figures of Penguins and Polar Bears , which today curious passers-by.
Over time, the building has lost its original works and 1976 has been bought, restored and thus reused by a bank.
The Piazza Verdi dragonfly, no less elegant thank the tourists who visited the palace Contesso
Probably the people among the many who walk every day through Piazza Verdi have mot even noticed. But the corner of Via del Torretto, across the street from the Post Office building, is a stylish wrought iron Dragonfly observing the passage.
The sculpture, fine and delicate, is a high quality door-streetlight that falls in the elegant decorations of the Contesso palace.
The stately building, which today has not lost its ancient charm, was originally a classy beach hotel .
This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)