Galleria Umberto I
The Umberto I Gallery is a shopping gallery built in the nineteenth century, in an urbanized and strongly degraded area. In order to redevelop this area of the center, in 1887 began its construction, on the project of Emmanuele Rocco, taken from Antonio Curri and expanded by Ernesto Mauro: a gallery with four arms entwined in a cruise octagonal covered by a dome. The main entrance, on Via San Carlo, has a facade with a semicircular colonnade architrave, supported by columns of travertine and two blind arches; the windows are arranged in a double row (serlian and mullioned pilasters). The smaller facades have a simple stucco decoration. The interior is covered with an iron and glass structure, designed by Paolo Boubée, and is bordered by buildings that blend the main facade in their style. On the drum of the dome is placed the Star of David, to emphasize that the Gallery is the historical venue of the Masonic Lodge of the Grand Orient of Italy. The mosaic floor reproduces the signs of the zodiac. In the via Verdi arm, a written reminds the "Locanda Moriconi" in which, in 1787, Goethe was home; for over twenty years, the Gallery was also home to the "Salone Margherita," Belle Époque theater where they performed important personalities (Matilde Serao, Gabriele d'Annunzio, Francesco Crispi, etc.), and the first movie theater. Major commercial hub and the mundane of the city, the Gallery has always hosted the "sciuscià", historical shoeshine boys. On the second floor of the main facade there is today the Coral Museum.
