Garibaldi Square

Piazza Garibaldi, originally built under the Hapsburgs in the first years of the eighteen hundreds to serve as an entrance gate to the city in concomitance with the extension of the King’s Highway [Strada Regia], was previously an open field. Originally named Piazza del Monumento, and then Piazza Nuova (to distinguish it from the “old” one, now Piazza Cavour), it took its present name from the bronze statue of Garibaldi, realized by the sculptor Confalonieri in 1909.

The oldest building in the square is the recently restored “Teatro Sociale” [Public Theater], designed in the neoclassical style by Luigi Canonica and inspired by La Scala of Milan. It was inaugurated during the Carnival festivities of 1824.

The buildings added later exude a similar sobriety: Casa Lambertenghi (1826) on the west side, the Banca d’Italia building, the Grand Hotel della Posta and the Banca Popolare di Sondrio building on the south side.

The piazza is closed by Palazzo Martinengo, built in the 16th century, shifted slightly to the north, whose gardens include a section of the medieval walls and an obelisk in white marble with allegorical figures, sculpted in 1834 by Giuseppe Croff.