User:CNMall41/Piazza degli Affari

Business Square From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Business Square Piazza degli Affari, with Palazzo Mezzanotte in the background Other names Stock Exchange Square Location State Flag of Italy Italy City Milan District Municipality 1 Postal code 20123 General informations Square type Construction 1932-1935 Connections Transport

Piazza degli Affari, commonly known as Piazza Affari, is one of the main squares in Milan, adjacent to Piazza Cordusio and not far from Piazza Duomo.

Symbol not only of the Milanese economy but also of Italian financial activities, the square is mainly known for the presence of the headquarters of the national financial market, the Milan Stock Exchange, established here on 16 January 1808.

History

Roman age

Marble plaque on the side of Palazzo Mezzanotte. Outlines the remains of the ancient Roman theater of Milan, which are buried under this building.

In Roman times, where Palazzo Mezzanotte is located today (current headquarters of the Milan Stock Exchange) and the adjacent Palazzo Ercole Turati (home of the Milan Chamber of Commerce), the Roman theater of Milan stood.

It was built within the Roman walls - near the current Via Cordusio and Corso Magenta which were already important road axes back then - during the reign of Emperor Augustus, in the 1st century BC[1] The building had a stage 20 meters high and an auditorium with a diameter of 95 meters and could accommodate between 7,000 and 9,000 spectators, at a time when Milan had approximately 25,000 inhabitants.

The theater maintained its original function until the 4th or 5th century, when the edicts of Theodosius and the progressive conquest of power by the Church began to hinder theatrical performances and games in the amphitheatres. Like much of the city, it was destroyed in 1162 by Frederick Barbarossa.

In the space where the square would later be opened, in the 3rd century AD, Emperor Maximian had his palace built and, adjacent to it, the circus.

20th century: the new square

The square in 1930: the sculptures of Leone Lodi and Geminiano Cibau were installed

The square acquired its current appearance during the twentieth century, when it was rearranged with the erection of the two majestic buildings facing it: the first, completed in 1932 based on a design by the architect Paolo Mezzanotte, and which housed the Milan Stock Exchange and the second, built in 1939 closing of the square, designed by Emilio Lancia with sculptures by Giuseppe Maretto.

The history of the stock exchange building, known as Palazzo Mezzanotte, began in 1927 when Mezzanotte began the surveys for the construction of the new construction site which opened in 1929 but which underwent continuous interruptions and slowdowns due to the discovery of the remains of the aforementioned Roman theatre.

The building, having an extension of 6450 square metres, was inaugurated in October 1932.

21st century: Cattelan's finger

In 2010, a sculpture entitled L.O.V.E. was placed in the center of the square, an acronym for freedom, hatred, revenge, eternity. The work depicts a hand with all the fingers severed, as if eroded by time, except the middle finger, which makes it visually depict the middle finger gesture, generally considered obscene.[2]

Made of Carrara marble, the work is 11 meters high, of which 4.60 are made up of the hand.[3]

The work, inaugurated during the great recession, was also interpreted as a protest against the world of finance symbolized by the stock exchange[4] and was at the center of a controversy that arose precisely due to the offensive nature of the gesture it depicted.

Transport

M1 Line (Milan Metro) M3 Line (Milan Metro) Duomo
M1 line (Milan metro) Cordusio

See also

• Italian stock exchange
• L.O.V.E. (sculpture)