Post Office Building

Built on a land purchased by the King Vittorio Emanuele III in 1935, the Post Office Building in Taranto is one of the highest examples of fascist architecture in Italy.

To carry out the project, Cesare Bazzani, a Roman engineer and architect who was extremely appreciated by the regime, came to Taranto and completed the works in 1937 after only two years.

The lines of the building are typical of the architecture of the regime, characterized by the large use of marble and the search for monumentality between classical references and allegorical statues.

The main façade is about twenty-three meters high (75 feet) and it’s divided over four floors. The building has a spectacular tower that adds to the total height another seventeen meters (56 feet); it lightens the lines of the building and presents itself as an extension of the six Ionic columns that act as a pedestal for the six monumental statues.

Made by different artists, the six statues represent, starting from the left, Justice, Art, Marine, Agriculture, Industry and Commerce and can be considered, as well as valuable pieces of art, as a real political manifesto in support of the ideology of the client.

The interiors are characterized by their volume and were made even more spectacular by the considerable height of the vault and the extensive use of marble for the decorations.