Salvo Salvi - Barga - Tuscany

Salvo Salvi volunteered to fight with Garibaldi in the III War of Independence on the Trentino Front; thereafter he was a lawyer and held local administrative and political positions. The square with the town hall is named after him.

In Piazza Salvi there are many references to the time when Barga was under the government of Florence. In particular, there is the Medici column, a copy of the original column erected in 1584 in honor of Cosimo I.

Then there is the stone replica of the Marzocco, the heraldic lion emblem of Republican Florence, but its origin and date are uncertain. The Marzocco overlooks the Loggia del Mercato, a charming open gallery, formerly used for the exchange of goods. Today it is the exterior extension of the recently restored Capretz coffee house, which was once an important meeting place.

On the wall of the terrace behind the coffee house is a stone plaque commemorating the meeting, on August 3, 1897, of two famous personalities of the Italian Risorgimento, Antonio Mordini from Barga and Matteo Renato Imbriani.

Willem Vandenameele