Bank of Italy (Paso Robles, California)

The Bank of Italy is a historic bank building located at 1245 Park St. in Paso Robles, California. Built in 1921, the three-story building is the tallest in Paso Robles. August Nyberg, the owner and architect of the bank, designed it in the Renaissance Revival style. The brick building's design features quoin-like corners, semicircular windows on the second floor with latticed glass and radiating brick borders, and recessed transoms. The Bank of Italy and Midland Light and Power moved into the building in 1922, and the bank purchased the building the following year. Bank of America acquired the Bank of Italy in 1930; from 1937 to 1958, the Bank of America branch in the building was the only bank in Paso Robles. The second floor of the building was used by various businesses, including several doctors, while the third floor held meetings for local fraternal organizations. Bank of America left the building in 1969. In 1992, art dealer Ali Salamanzadeh purchased the building and opened a gallery on the first floor; the California Department of Corrections uses the upper floors for office space.

Bank of Italy (Visalia, California)

Bank of Italy building in Downtown Visalia was built in 1923 at 128 East Main Street. The Bank of Italy building has five stories plus a basement. R. F. Felchlin, a Fresno construction company, supplied the architectural, engineering, and contracting services. The ground level was designed to be a bank, and the other space was set aside for offices. Later it became the Bank of America. Today the ground floor continues to be a bank, and the upper floors still provide office space.

The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Tulare County, California on April 1, 1982.

References

Bank of Italy (United States)

The Bank of Italy was founded in San Francisco, California, United States, on October 17, 1904 by Amadeo Giannini. It grew by a branch banking strategy to become the Bank of America, the world's largest commercial bank, with 493 branches in California and assets of $5 billion in 1945.

The bank was established to serve working class citizens of the area, especially Italian Americans living in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood. The bank survived the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906 and was one of the first to offer loans to businesses to help rebuild the city.

The Bank of Italy building—which later became a National Historic Landmark—was opened in 1908. Giannini had his office space in an open area on the first floor. In 1909, the bank began opening branches in other cities. It had 24 branches by 1918, at which time it was the first statewide branch banking system.

The Bank of Italy merged with the smaller Bank of America, Los Angeles in the 1928. In 1930, Giannini changed the name "Bank of Italy" to "Bank of America". As chairman of the new, larger Bank of America, Giannini expanded the bank throughout his tenure, which ended with his death in 1949.

Italy

Coordinates: 43°N 12°E / 43°N 12°E / 43; 12

Italy (ⁱ/ˈɪtəli/; Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja]), officially the Italian Republic (Italian: Repubblica Italiana), is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Italy covers an area of 301,338 km² (116,347 sq mi) and has a largely Mediterranean and temperate climate; due to its shape, it is often referred to in Italy as lo Stivale (the Boot). With 61 million inhabitants, it is the 4th most populous EU member state. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino and Vatican City.

Since ancient times, Greeks, Etruscans and Celts have inhabited the south, centre and north of the Italian Peninsula respectively. Rome ultimately emerged as the dominant power, conquering much of the ancient world and becoming the leading cultural, political, and religious centre of Western civilisation. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the global distribution of civilian law, Republican governments, Christianity and the latin script.

Roman Italy

Roman Italy was created officially by the Roman Emperor Augustus with the Latin name Italia. It was the first time in history that the Italian peninsula (from the Alps to the Ionian Sea) was united under the same name. In the year 292, the three islands of Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily were added to Roman Italy by Emperor Diocletianus.

Characteristics

Italy (Italia in Latin and Italian) was the name of the administrative division of the Italian peninsula during the Roman era. It was not a province, but became the territory of the city of Rome, thus having a special status. Following the end of the Social War (91–88 BC), Rome had allowed its Italian allies (socii) full rights in Roman society and granted the Roman citizenship to all the Italic peoples.

After having been for centuries the heart of the Empire, from the 3rd century the government and the cultural center began to move eastward: first the Edict of Caracalla in 212 AD extended Roman citizenship to all free men within the imperial boundaries, then during Constantine's reign (306–337) the seat of the Empire was moved to Constantinople in 330 AD.

Italy Pavilion at Epcot

The Italy Pavilion is a Italy-themed pavilion that is part of the World Showcase, within Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Its location is between the Germany Pavilion at Epcot and The American Adventure.

Layout

The Italy Pavilion features a plaza surrounded by a collection of buildings evocative of Venetian, Florentine, and Roman architecture. Venetian architecture is represented by a re-creation of St Mark's Campanile (bell tower) and a replica of the Doge's Palace. The pavilion's design is inspired by other hallmarks of Italian architecture, such as the Neptune Fountain (reminiscent of Rome's Trevi Fountain) and the Il Bel Cristallo shop (meant to resemble the exterior of the Sistine Chapel). Musicians, clowns, and acting troupes often appear in the piazza throughout the day. There are also small shops selling Italian goods, such as candy and wine.