Post and Telegraph Office

The construction of the new building housing the post office was part of the overall project of redesign of Piazza Saffi, to adapt it to its new role of social and political centre of the city. The task was entrusted to the Roman engineer Cesare Bazzani, protégé of the then Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Costanzo Ciano. The engineer proposed to position the post office on the north side of the square, by demolishing some existing buildings, among which the largest one was Palazzo Pantoli. The main façade overlooking the square was moved back with respect to the outline of the lot occupied by existing buildings, in order to space it out from the Basilica of San Mercuriale and Palazzo Paulucci Di Calboli and make it more visible. The building has a rectangular-shaped plan featuring an internal courtyard, in the middle, which provides light to the rooms of the upper floors. On the ground floor, the large semicircular entrance hall is covered by a reinforced concrete skylight. The rooms of the four wings are arranged on three levels and connected by long corridors and two stairs. The main front of the building is characterized by classical and neo-renaissance elements, as well as the contrast between bricks and travertine elements. The perfectly symmetric façade is framed by two towers to the sides and features two tiers of arches. Niches and oculi make the arcade on the ground floor more dynamic, whereas the upper arches framing two tiers of windows are separated by pilaster strips. The corner element is different in that it features a diamond-pointed rustication at the base and double pilaster strips in the upper tier. The project envisaged the construction of a fountain in front of the building, which was actually used to embellish the railway station square. The flagpoles topped by imperial eagles are still in place in the pedestrian area before the palace.