PIAZZA GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI began to take shape in 1852, with the construction of the Dante Alighieri Theatre – the construction of the new building on a previously vacant lot delimited one of the latter’s sides and turned it into a square, known as Largo degli Svizzeri.
Its current name is related to the transfer of the honorary monument dedicated to Giuseppe Garibaldi realised by Giulio Franchi to the centre of the square.
Inaugurated in 1892, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the hero’s death, it was located in front of the Basilica of San Francesco until 1936, when it was transferred here.
The bas-reliefs on the base depict the most important moments in Garibaldi’s life: his escape with his wife Anita, being chased by Austrian soldiers; the battle of Rome; his son Ricciotti handing him the flag snatched from the Prussians; the battle of Sant’Antonio.
In the following decades, the new square underwent several transformations. In 1895, the seat of Cassa di Risparmio di Ravenna was opened on the side opposite the theatre, built by demolishing the old building of “Alli Tre Ferri”, one of the most characteristic inns of the city, on the place of the church of San Giorgio dei Portici.
In 1926, the new Post Office building was inaugurated in place of the demolished 17th-century Treasury building, which was part of the Palazzetto Veneziano, seat of the Papal Legate, and then of the Prefecture.
