Piazza Dante, Grosseto

Piazza Dante

Piazza delle Catene
Shown within Tuscany
Former name(s)	Piazza del Comune Piazza Grande Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II
Namesake	Dante Alighieri
Location	Grosseto, Tuscany, Italy
Coordinates	42°45′34″N 11°06′49″E
Construction
Completion	13th century
Other
Status	pedestrianised

Piazza Dante (also known as Piazza delle Catene, lit. 'Chains' Square') is the main public square in Grosseto, Tuscany, Italy.

The piazza is located in the city's historic centre, included within the perimeter of the 16th-century city walls. It is home to the city's main representative buildings, including the St. Lawrence Cathedral, the Palazzo Comunale (City Hall) and the Palazzo Aldobrandeschi, seat of the Province of Grosseto. The northern section of the square is called Piazza Duomo, since it is overlooked by the cathedral's façade.

History

The main square of the city of Grosseto is documented as Platea Communis starting from 1222. The original square was a smaller space than the current one, located between the ancient parish church of Santa Maria (elevated to cathedral status in 1138) and the early town hall. By 1292, part of the square was occupied by the new town curia. Major urban restructuring occurred from the late 13th to early 14th century, inspired by Siena's Piazza del Campo, with key public buildings facing the square.

In the 14th century, under Siena's control, Grosseto's key representatives lived in the main square, Piazza del Comune. By the 15th century, the square saw new constructions including shops, official residences, and the completion of the area now known as Piazza Duomo, as well as the Hospital of San Giovanni Battista. A well was added in 1465 but is now lost. In the subsequent centuries, the square deteriorated significantly. The 16th and 17th centuries were particularly harsh, as Grosseto was reduced to a small fort or prison.

Significant urban redevelopment only began in the mid-18th century under the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, focusing on urban renewal. The public square of Grosseto underwent significant changes, as documented in the 1744 reports preserved in the State Archive of Florence. Before the renovation, the square was described as "half broken" and lacking proper paving. Under Colonel Edward Warren's supervision, the square was repaved, and the road layout was redesigned. In 1745, Francesco Anichini detailed the square in his Ecclesiastical History, noting a "loggia of thirty-two arches" forming two major sides of the square, with uniform architecture above. By 1792, the square featured a paved area bordered by columns and chains, and it became commonly known as Piazza delle Catene, although officially it was Piazza Grande, as shown on Gaetano Becherucci's 1823 map.

In 1833, a Gothic-Revival cast iron temple was added to the well in Grosseto's square but was moved to Arcidosso by 1839, where it is known as Fonte del Poggiolo. Due to deteriorating conditions, a new restoration was planned, with proposals from 1836, and the final project approved in 1845 by municipal engineer Morelli. The square was redesigned by Grand Ducal engineer Angiolo Cianferoni, who created a circular pavement with stone posts, chains, and benches. Following Italian unification, the square was renamed Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II.

In 1870, the northern side of Piazza Duomo was redeveloped with the construction of the Town Hall. Buildings on the southern and eastern porticoes were raised, and in 1900, the Gothic Revival Palazzo della Provincia replaced the Palazzo Pretorio. In 1938, the Palazzo dei Priori was demolished to expand the space in front of the cathedral and the roads, and between 1948 and 1950, the Palazzo Alben was constructed.

On 7 August 1945, at the proposal of the Italian Republican Party, the City Council named the square after the poet Dante Alighieri. In 1956, Piazza Dante underwent substantial changes: the stone posts, chains, and benches were removed, the paving was replaced, and a parking lot was created in the center of the square, extending radially around the statue of the grand duke. In 2002, the square was restored to its 19th-century appearance, with columns and chains, so today it is once again known as Piazza delle Catene.

Buildings and monuments

The cathedral

The southern side of the square

The monument to Canapone

Grosseto Cathedral

Further information: Grosseto Cathedral

Palazzo Aldobrandeschi

Further information: Palazzo Aldobrandeschi

Palazzo Comunale

The Palazzo Comunale is located on the northern side of Piazza Duomo and houses the City Council and the Mayor of Grosseto. The city hall was designed in 1867 by engineer Giovanni Clive, and built in a Neo-Renaissance style between 1870 and 1873. Its construction required the demolition of the 16th-century church of San Giovanni Decollato (St. John the Baptist) which stood here.

Palazzo Alben

Palazzo Alben is located on the western side of Piazza Duomo, opposite the cathedral. The palace was built between 1948 and 1950 by the enterprise ALBEN, on the site of the medieval Palazzo dei Priori, which was demolished in 1938 by the Fascist city government in order to build the new headquarters of the National Institute for Social Security. It is home to the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro.

Canapone

The statue of Leopold II of Tuscany (Italian: monumento a Leopoldo II di Lorena), better known as Canapone, is a white marble monument located at the centre of the square. It was sculpted by artist Luigi Magi, and positioned in 1846. It represents Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany dressed as an ancient Roman, in the act of holding up with his left hand a woman, who bears a dead child, and with his right arm a smiling boy; the grand duke's right foot crushes the head of a snake, which is also devoured by a griffin. The allegorical sculpture was meant to celebrate the land reforms and reclamations perpetrated by the grand duke, who is depicted here as a Roman sage and saviour who comes to succour the Maremma (the woman) who has suffered for generations (the dead child); the next generation (the smiling boy) will be grateful to the grand duke who defeated the malaria (the snake), also thanks to the strength and sacrifice of the people of Grosseto (the griffin).

Colonna dei Bandi

The Colonna dei Bandi (lit. 'Column of notices') is an ancient Roman column located in the northern side of the square, on the right of the cathedral. Its presence in the piazza is attested to 1617, and confirmed in later records until 1832, and was used as the public spot to post municipal notices (bandi). The original column was removed in 1846 with the square's renovation and went lost. The current monument – a 2nd century AD column found in Rusellae in 1863 – was placed on the same site in 1966, during the celebration of the bicentenary of the establishment of the Province of Grosseto.

Bibliography

• Guide d'Italia. Toscana. Milan: Touring Club Italiano. 2012. pp. 882–884.
• Celuzza, Mariagrazia; Papa, Mauro (2013). Grosseto visibile. Guida alla città e alla sua arte pubblica. Arcidosso: Edizioni Effigi. pp. 119–121.
• Innocenti, Mario; Innocenti, Elena (2005). Grosseto: briciole di storia. Cartoline e documenti d'epoca 1899-1944. Grosseto: Editrice Innocenti. pp. 159–177.
• Parisi, Marcella (2001). Grosseto dentro e fuori porta. L'emozione e il pensiero. Arcidosso: C&P Adver Effigi.

External links

• "Piazza Dante". Atlante storico topografico dei siti di interesse storico e culturale del Comune di Grosseto (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2014-07-28.
• "Piazza Duomo". Atlante storico topografico dei siti di interesse storico e culturale del Comune di Grosseto (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2014-07-28.