Originally called “Corso del Littorio,” then “Corso Nuova Italia,” and finally renamed “Corso Italia,” it was built in the early ’30s as a new and modern promenade connecting Piazza Gabriele Rossetti to the newly constructed Villa Comunale, located five hundred meters further south, near the Piano dell’Aragona.
The first part, facing Piazza Rossetti, underwent redevelopment a few years ago, including the restoration of old school buildings and the construction of a staircase leading to the square. It is from these two buildings that the history of the new neighborhood begins. On February 19, 1925, the cornerstone of the first building was laid in the presence of authorities and a large crowd gathered in what was not yet Piazza Rossetti but was then called Piazza Cavour.
The first building was constructed in just over a year and was inaugurated on September 12, 1926, along with the Monument to Gabriele Rossetti and the Aqueduct of Sinello. The second building was built in 1931. The two buildings housed elementary schools, the “G. Rossetti” Vocational Training School, and the Middle School; the ground floor of the second building housed municipal offices.
After the entry of Allied troops on November 5, 1943, commanded by General Montgomery, the two school buildings were used as a Military Hospital connected by a wooden bridge between the two windows on the upper floor facing via XXIV Maggio. Only at the end of June 1944, when the Allied troops of the Eighth Army left the city, the two buildings returned to being used for educational purposes until the ’90s when, no longer suitable for use, they were renovated and converted for commercial and administrative purposes.
Continuing south towards the Villa Comunale, you reach the section of the street open to traffic. A street of elegant houses and shops, it maintains a refined appearance given by the relationship between the volumes of the houses that overlook it, mostly built in the 1930s.
Immediately at the intersection with the first street, via XXIV Maggio, there is a characteristic Art Nouveau building. This is the Politeama Ruzzi, completed in 1927. The facade has a portico with five arches. The initials of the patron, the industrialist Giovanni Ruzzi, are engraved on the keystones of the arches. The plaster facade is decorated with pilasters featuring floral motifs. The theater was intended to host meetings of the National Fascist Party, as well as to serve social and cultural functions. The entrance portal still bears the motto “Delectando docet,” which means “By delighting, it teaches.”
Continuing up the street, you encounter numerous Liberty-style buildings. Notable ones include Palazzo Bottari, right in front of Politeama Ruzzi, and Palazzo De Sanctis, just after it on the right side.
After passing via IV Novembre, following a post-war building, you come across Palazzo Martella, where the homonymous pasta factory was once located, and Palazzo Vicoli. Opposite this, at the intersection with via Asmara, is Palazzo Cieri-Cavallone.
We have now reached the end of the street, and in front of us stands the main entrance to the Villa Comunale. The visit to the Liberty district of Corso Italia cannot be considered complete without walking along via Asmara where, at the intersection with via Smargiassi, you find the most beautiful building of all, Palazzo Melle-Molino. Built in 1929, the two-story palace is integrated with a three-story turret where the French doors of the balconies are crafted in the form of a mullioned window with floral decorations.
