Palazzo Mezzanotte, also known as Palazzo delle Borse ("Stock Exchange Palace") is a 20th-century building of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, and the seat of the Italian

stock exchange A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for t ...

. It is located in

Piazza Affari Borsa Italiana, based in Milan, is the Italian stock exchange. It manages and organises domestic market, regulating procedures for admission and listing of companies and intermediaries and supervising disclosures for listed companies.italy24.il ...

("Business Square"), the city square after which the Italian stock exchange itself is nicknamed. The name "Palazzo Mezzanotte" is a reference to Paolo Mezzanotte, the architect who designed the building.

History

The original stock exchange of Milan was established in 1808 in the seat of the

Mount of piety A mount of piety is an institutional pawnbroker run as a charity in Europe from Renaissance times until today. Similar institutions were established in the colonies of Catholic countries; the Mexican Nacional Monte de Piedad is still in operatio ...

of the city. The following year it was moved to the Palazzo dei Giureconsulti, in Piazza Mercanti, and at the beginning of the 20th century it was relocated again in a newly constructed building in

Piazza Cordusio Piazza Cordusio (also informally referred to as Piazzale Cordusio)The terms "piazza" and "piazzale" both refer to city squares, the latter being used for "larger" squares. While Cordusio is a rather large square, its formal name is "Piazza Cordusio ...

; this building now houses the headquarters of the Poste Italiane

postal service The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal syst ...

, and has thus been renamed Palazzo della Posta ("Post Palace"). Lapide_del_teatro_romano_a_Palazzao_Mezzanotte

In 1925, the city authorities of Milan launched a project for a new, larger building for the stocks exchange. Architect Paolo Mezzanotte began his design in 1927, and construction works began in 1929. The ruins of a Roman theatre were discovered during the excavations, and this delayed the construction. A plaque showing the map of those ruins is now affixed on one of the outer walls of the palace. The building was completed in 1932. At its inauguration, it qualified as the most technologically advanced building in Italy; it was the first building to implement a single call button controlling several elevators, it had

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

, and housed the largest electric display of the times (in Italy) where stock quotations where updated in real-time. The building has a monumental, 36 m high facade, in a style that mixes 20th-century architecture and

Neoclassicism Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism ...

; it is realized in marble and

travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a p ...

and decorated with sculptures by

Leone Lodi Leone may refer to: Geography *Leone, American Samoa *Monte Leone, mountain in the ''Leone-Gruppe'' as part of Western Alps *Sierra Leone, independent nation in West Africa Leone as a given name * Leone Battista Alberti (1404–1472), Italian R ...

and

Geminiano Cibau Geminiano is a municipality in the state of Piauí in the Northeast region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Piauí This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Piauí (PI), located in the Northeast Region of Brazil. Pi ...

. The main room of the Palace, called "sala delle grida" ("cries room") as businessmen would shout their offers to buy and sell, is lighted by a large net, affixed to the ceiling, which reproduces the constellations in the celestial sphere. Since the 1990s, all business is done remotely via the network, and the room has lost its original function; it is now mostly used to house conferences.

External links

Official website
{{Milan landmarks Mezzanotte Buildings and structures completed in 1932 Tourist attractions in Milan