The pretty little European town which looks like it is frozen in the 1930s
A tiny Italian town looks like it has been frozen in the 1930s.
Italy, just like the UK, is filled with hundreds of beautiful towns and villages that attract millions of visitors every single year.
The pretty town of Tresigallo is located between Bologna and Venice and many of the hundreds of buildings were built in the 1930s.
The town was built from nothing and kept a secret from the dictator and the then leader Benito Mussolini by then Minister of Agriculture Edmondo Rossoni.
Mr Rossoni built Tresigallo with the future in mind and it was nicknamed the City of the 20th Century.
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Also known as the Metaphysical City, its population soon grew from 500 to over 9,000 people with the majority of the structures constructed between 1927 and 1934.
According to the Sun, the town was built on a horizontal and a vertical axis. The horizontal axis was for spirituality and the vertical axis was for everyday life.
Fast forward to the 21st century and the town has found a new life as a tourist destination and a symbol of Rationalism Architecture.
The most famous of the structures is the Sogni whose name translates into ‘dreams’ in Italian. While it is now an exhibition centre it was once a bathhouse.
Tresigallo’s unique building style means that it has also been compared to a film set, specifically one from a Wes Anderson film.
On the Italy Segreta website, Gianni Celati said: “Today, Tresigallo is architecture in its purest state: a town, seemingly empty (just 4,000 souls remain), where rationalist forms and old signs reign like a Hollywood movie set left to itself.
“Little known, but an outstanding example, Tresigallo represents a unique specimen of Italian rationalism, which, mixed with some metaphysical design, creates a peculiar combination and an enigmatic effect.”
He added: “The large, central piazza’s fountain is marked by four gazelle, one for each of Fascist Italy’s colonies in Africa. This piazza and the surrounding streets are often thought to have inspired Italian artist Giorgio de Chirico, founder of the metaphysical art movement, though this is a myth.
“However, the dizzying similarity between the magical, geometrical squares of some of his most famous paintings and the architecture of Tresigallo is unarguable.”
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On the thinking behind Tresigallo, Mr Celati said: “Rossoni’s dream was for Tresigallo to be autonomous, independent of political parties and the Fascist state, a city based on peaceful cooperation between employer and worker, united by common visions and goals.
“Workers’ and industrialists’ houses had to stand shoulder to shoulder in order to generate a positive social and cultural impact.”
The town has gained a lot of praise on TripAdvisor.
One person wrote: “Beautiful square that deserves to be seen with a guide who helps to analyse the details and understand the study behind its creation.
“The fountain with the antelopes is beautiful and unexpected. It’s a shame that many buildings would need renovation.”
Another person said: “Wonderful city of foundation, a pearl of the Italian rationalism of the Thirties, known and studied by architects and urban planners from all over the world.”
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