PEDROCCHI CAFE' PADUA

In the heart of Padua : Pedrocchi Cafè and Pedrocchino

Between the latter part of the Eighteenth Century and the early Nineteenth Century Padua, like Venice, saw the beginning of many coffee-houses used for literary and social meetings: by 1760 there were at feast forty coffee-house keepers fisted, one of whom was the Bergamasque, Antonio Pedrocchi and it is due to him that one of the most important European coffee-houses was built, the Pedrocchi Cafe to be precise.

It was built between 1826 and 1831 by the architect Giuseppe Jappelli in pure neo-classic style adapting the plan to a triangular-shaped area in the heart of the city and it is from this that the piano-shaped plan is derived to which in 1838 next to the south facade the "Pedrocchino " was built in strict neo-gothic taste, in order to house the "offelleria" or confectioners shop. On the upper floor next to rooms each furnished in a dif Herculanean rooni, Greek room, Renaissance room, etc.) is the great ballroom dedicated to Rossini, who was a friend of Jappelli.

The Cafe immediately became the hub of city life. It was frequented by professors and students from the nearby University and was the hub of the Resorgimental uprisings of 1848.