Corso Zanardelli is an historic street in Brescia, today one of the social gatherings of the city, with luxurious shops, bars and other shops, and on Saturday afternoon it is full of people, in particular young people, searching for a relaxing afternoon dedicated to shopping.
Once the street was near the south boundary of Brescia. Throughout the centuries, workshops of gouges, marble workers and sculptors were in this street, in addition to the market of wine, until the mid-nineteenth century. The street took many names, the oldest is “Contrada del Gambero”, for the presence of a inn of the same name, then it became “Market of Wine”, and in 1800 it was first called “Corso del Teatro”, referring to Grande Theatre, and then “Contrada dell’Ospitale Grande”, for the presence of Major Hospital. Finally, in 1904, in the occasion of the first anniversary of Giuseppe Zanardelli death, a well-known statesman from Brescia, the municipality proposed to call the street in his honour.
Porticoes were built between 1734 and 1773 and modified during the nineteenth century, trying to shape the interventions with a neoclassical orientation.
Since 1847 the side with porticoes has become a place for walking in a modern bourgeois city. In the mid-century the opposite side of the street was reorganized. In 1983 the current cobbles upholstery was planned, it is formed by cubes made by stones and porphyry. Today the street is one of the most famous and important in the city, because it is possible to walk staring at the luxurious shop windows, or to stop for a break in one of the bars. It is one of the favourite places to spend an afternoon dedicated to shopping.
PDF file download: Corso Zarnadelli
Web site: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corso_Giuseppe_Zanardelli