The Viale della Repubblica is the result of the building expansion of the town towards the railway station, which took place in the early years of the twentieth century. Formerly named as Viale Umberto I, it presents notable and numerous architectural decorations in the villas and the buildings along the street, attributable to the Fornaci San Lorenzo.
At street number 41, a small villa bears on the upper part of the façade, two square tiles in slight relief depicting a stylized flower, and crowned by a series of painted triangles; on the opposite side of the street, another façade shows a simple decoration with four blue tiles in a diamond shape along the openings on the first floor. Further on, on the large facade of the building at street number 84, albeit very faded, there is a decorative band painted in monochrome. The house located at the following street number 88 has a large decorative band of polychrome tiles that runs up to the top floor.
On the opposite side of the avenue, at street number 57, a beautiful house shows above each of the two windows of the balconies on the first floor, a lunette: here there is a beautiful round decorative motif in majolica representing a stylized insect. Inside the building, some rooms are still very well preserved, including a magnificent entrance hall painted and covered in colored and decorated tiles. The beautiful painted decoration also bears the date 1912 and was probably taken from cardboards supplied by Galileo Chini. Crossing the road at street number 90, it is possible to admire the façade of the Cesare Bini carpentry, which was the seat of the carpentry that on several occasions produced the furniture for the rooms made and decorated by the Fornaci. Finally, at street number 92, the openings of the upper floor are decorated on the crown with polychrome tiles and worked in metallic luster, both on the facade and on the east side. Worth mentioning, also the external decorations of the beautiful house on the corner with Piazza Dante.
© Il Filo – Idee e Notizie dal Mugello
