The Palazzo delle Assicurazioni Generali is a building in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy. Originally the Palazzo Fenzi, built for the Fenzi banking family and designed in the Neo-Renaissance style by Giuseppe Martelli and is one of the very few purpose built commercial buildings in the centre of the city though it housed on the upper floors reception rooms for the Fenzi family.
The site was formerly occupied by the "Pisan Loggia" and the "Chiese de Santa Cecilia" [1] While the architecture of the palazzo is undoubtedly inspired by that of the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, also in Florence, the Palazzo delle Assicurazioni Generali was never intended to be a private house but the local headquarters of the General Insurance Company which was founded in Trieste in 1831. [2] There are other Palazzi delle Assicurazioni Generali in other Italian cities most notably Rome and Milan. During the latter half of the 19th century the Assicurazioni Generali (commonly known as "Generali") were expanding not only in Italy but also throughout Europe.
The Assicurazioni Generali generally employed retrospective architectural style to reflect the surroundings of their offices in Rome the palazzo imitates the Palazzo Venezia which it faces, while in Milan the Palazzo delle Assicurazioni Generali is in a form of 19th century Baroque [3] known as Beaux Arts.
The Florence Palazzo delle Assicurazioni unsuccessfully vies for dominance in the piazza with the more historical and architecturally important Palazzo Signoria, today known as the Palazzo Vecchio. In spite of its height and size the architecture of the Palazzo delle Assicurazioni Generali harmonises with that of the surrounding buildings, and does not appear as a new imposter in the piazza. However, this is not a view shared by all, one source describes those buildings of Piazza della Signoria occupied by banks and Insurance companies as "seeming to belong to some cold northern climate rather than to the city that gave birth to the colour and vitality of the Renaissance" [4] Part of the ground floor is home to one of Florence's more fashionable and historical cafés – "Rivoire", founded in 1872.
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 364,073 inhabitants in 2024, and 990,527 in its metropolitan area.
Montepulciano is a medieval and Renaissance hill town and comune in the Italian province of Siena in southern Tuscany. It sits high on a 605-metre (1,985 ft) limestone ridge, 13 kilometres (8 mi) east of Pienza, 70 kilometres (43 mi) southeast of Siena, 124 kilometres (77 mi) southeast of Florence, and 186 kilometres (116 mi) north of Rome by car.
Palazzo Strozzi is a palace in Florence, Italy.
Piazza della Signoria is a w-shaped square in front of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy. It was named after the Palazzo della Signoria, also called Palazzo Vecchio. It is the main point of the origin and history of the Florentine Republic and still maintains its reputation as the political focus of the city. It is the meeting place of Florentines as well as the numerous tourists, located near Palazzo Vecchio and Piazza del Duomo, and gateway to the Uffizi Gallery.
The Loggia dei Lanzi, also called the Loggia della Signoria, is a building on a corner of the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy, adjoining the Uffizi Gallery. It consists of wide arches open to the street. The arches rest on clustered pilasters with Corinthian capitals. The wide arches appealed so much to the Florentines that Michelangelo proposed that they should be continued all around the Piazza della Signoria.
The Fenzi Bank and family were key players in both the economic growth of the Italian industrial revolution and the expansion of the north Italian Railways between Florence and Livorno in 18th and 19th century Italy.
Marcello Piacentini was an Italian urban theorist and one of the main proponents of Italian Fascist architecture.
Piazza della Repubblica is a city square in Florence, Italy. It was originally the site of the city's forum; then of its old ghetto, which was swept away during the improvement works, or Risanamento, initiated during the brief period when Florence was the capital of a reunited Italy—work that also created the city's avenues and boulevards. At that time, the Loggia del Pesce from the Mercato Vecchio was also moved to Piazza Ciompi. The square's Giubbe Rosse cafe has long been a meeting place for famous artists and writers, notably those of Futurism.
Luca Beltrami was an Italian architect and architectural historian, known particularly for restoration projects.
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The architecture of Rome over the centuries has greatly developed from Ancient Roman architecture to Italian modern and contemporary architecture. Rome was once the world's main epicentres of Classical architecture, developing new forms such as the arch, the dome and the vault. The Romanesque style in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries was also widely used in Roman architecture, and later the city became one of the main centres of Renaissance and Baroque architecture. Rome's cityscape is also widely Neoclassical and Fascist in style.
Piazza Cordusio is a square in central Milan, Italy. The piazza takes its name from the Cors Ducis which was located on the square during Longobard times. It is well known for its several turn-of-the-19th-century Neoclassical, eclectic and Art Nouveau buildings, banks and post offices. Even though many of these have now relocated elsewhere, it is still an important commercial square in the city and hosts the Palazzo delle Assicurazioni Generali, the Palazzo del Credito Italiano and the Palazzo delle Poste, former Borsa di Milano. Piazzale Cordusio hosts the Cordusio metro station and is the starting point of the elegant pedestrian Via Dante which leads to the imposing medieval Castello Sforzesco, or Milan Castle. Opposite to Via Dante, Cordusio borders onto Piazza Mercanti, former city centre in the Middle Ages, which leads directly to Piazza del Duomo, today's city centre.
Palazzo Borromeo is a 14th-century building located at piazza Borromeo 12 in Milan, region of Lombardy, Italy. It was built as the home and business headquarters of the Borromeo family, merchant-bankers from Tuscany. Some of the building complex was badly damaged during World War II in Allied bombings of 1943 but was reconstructed and restored to its 15th-century appearance. It contains an important fresco cycle from the 1440s and is one of the finest examples of a Milanese patrician palace from the early Renaissance.
Piazza Mercanti is a central city square of Milan, Italy. It is located between Piazza del Duomo, which marks the centre of the modern city of Milan, and Piazza Cordusio, and it used to be the heart of the city in the Middle Ages. At the time, the square was larger than it is now and known as "Piazza del Broletto", after the "Broletto Nuovo", the palace that occupied the centre of the square. In the 13th century, there were six entry points to the square, each associated to a specific trade, from sword blacksmiths to hat makers.
Palazzo Uguccioni is a Renaissance palace on the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, central Italy.
The stile Umbertino is a 19th-century style of Renaissance Revival architecture in Italy, typical of the eclecticism of late 19th century architecture and decorative arts in Europe, which mixes decorative elements from various historical styles.
Eugenio Soncini was an Italian architect.
The Palazzo delle Assicurazioni Generali, also known as Palazzo Venezia, is a historic building situated in Piazza Cordusio in Milan, Italy. It was converted to a luxury hotel in 2023, the Palazzo Cordusio Gran Meliá.