- Art & Culture
Arnaboldi Dome
The Arnaboldi Gallery is a commercial gallery that, in the form of a covered pedestrian street, connects Strada Nuova to Piazza del Lino.
In the center of Pavia, halfway along Corso Strada Nuova, stands the Arnaboldi Gallery, commissioned in 1878 by the Milanese engineer Ercole Balossi at the request of the then-mayor, Count Bernardo Arnaboldi Gazzaniga. It was conceived as a space for commercial negotiations.
The new market hall was envisioned by the engineer as a building with a central octagonal plaza, topped by a glass dome.
The Arnaboldi Dome is now considered one of the symbols of the city of Pavia, but since its inauguration in 1882, it has housed a market hall, offices, shops, residences, and an exclusive club. In 1960, some of its spaces were purchased by the Chamber of Commerce of Pavia, which gave the Dome a new life by opening a merchandise trading hall and placing some of its offices inside.
The building's style draws on elements from the Renaissance repertoire, incorporating neo-classical decorations, large corbels, rounded and lintelled windows framed by pilasters, engaged columns, and composite capitals. This traditional structure was paired with a modern roof, made with an iron frame and double-glazed transparent windows, topped with a small dome and a lightning rod made of iron and platinum, weighing over 50,000 kilograms and rising to a height of 32.5 meters.
Also, engineer Balossi, on commission from the Municipality, presented a preliminary design for the square behind the Market Hall, which was actually completed only between 1898 and 1900, based on ideas by other architects. The problem of the elevation difference between the gallery and the square was solved by creating a raised space, connected to the street via steps and featuring picturesque flowerbeds and benches.
Source: Chamber of Commerce of Pavia
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