Castagnole delle Lanze - The Porticoes

Built in 1864, by the mayor Pietro Auberti, the Porticoes of Castagnole were the obligatory stop for the notables of the country. The Circolo Sociale (social club), which stood right under the arcades, with its billiards, bar and reading room, attracted many inhabitants at the end of the walk along the lèja of Piazza Nuova (new square).

Combining beauty and practicality, the thirteen arches of the Arcades became, immediately, home to numerous commercial activities. In the early years of the twentieth century there was already the cafe-restaurant Roma, adjacent to the Circolo Sociale, followed then hairdressers, the confectionery-pastry Culasso, the pharmacy Ravera and a cloth shop. To remember is definitely the Social Theatre: an old pub-theater, transformed in the post-war period, where teachers and students staged plays, especially comedies by Goldoni, to finance social initiatives.

In 2002 the Porticoes were then painted by the artist Vincenzo Piccato, with a series of colors that refer to the territory and vineyards, during the autumn and harvest. From green to red, from yellow to purple and brown: the Portici recall the changing colors of the leaves, the wine and the earth. The union between architecture and nature, wanted by the artist, creates a wonderful feeling as if it were a walk through the colors of the country.