The Coperto dei Figini was a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

porticoed building located in what is now Piazza del Duomo, the central square in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. The construction began in 1467 on a design by architect

Guiniforte Solari Guiniforte Solari (), also known as ''Boniforte'', was an Italian sculptor, architect and engineer. Life Born in Milan, he was the son of the architect Giovanni Solari, and brother of Francesco Solari. Guiniforte was chief engineer of the Du ...

(from the

Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano The Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano ("Venerable Fabric of the Duomo of Milan") is a 600-year-old organization that was established to supervise the construction of the Cathedral of Milan (the "Duomo"). The organization is still active an ...

), ordered by Pietro Figino. The building, located on the north-western side of the piazza,La sistemazione finale della piazza
/ref> was a popular meeting place for the Milanese people for over 400 years; it housed several shops that sold such drinks as the ''turbolin'' (boiled and filtered coffee), chocolate, '' barbajada'',

orgeat syrup Orgeat syrup is a sweet syrup made from almonds and sugar with a little rose water and/or orange flower water. It was originally made with a barley-almond blend. It has a pronounced almond taste and is used to flavor many cocktails. Orgeat syrup ...

, and more. Many of these shops evolved into

cafes A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargile ...

when the first such establishments appeared in Milan;Il Coperto dei Figini
for example, one of the historic Caffé Campari in Milan was located there. The Coperto was ordered for demolition in the early 19th century (and actually demolished in the 1860s), as a consequence of the major redesign of the ''piazza''. Painter

Angelo Inganni Angelo Inganni (November 24, 1807 – December 2, 1880) was an Italian painter. Biography Born in Brescia, Inganni was taught the basics of art by his father Giovanni and his elder brother Francesco, with whom he worked on fresco decorations fr ...

has left a few drawings depicting the Coperto a few years before being demolished, and some photographs have also been preserved.

References in popular culture

The 19th century poet and novelist

Iginio Ugo Tarchetti Iginio (or Igino) Ugo Tarchetti (; 29 June 1839 – 25 March 1869) was an Italian author, poet, and journalist of the first generation of Lombard line. Long forgotten by Italian literary critics, Tarchetti's work is undergoing critical reapp ...

chose the Coperto dei Figini as the main setting of his novel '' Paolina: Misteri del Coperto dei Figini'' (1865).Paolina: Misteri del Coperto dei Figini
/ref>

Footnotes

{{coord, 45.4645, N, 9.1898, E, source:wikidata-and-enwiki-cat-tree_region:IT, display=title History of Milan Buildings and structures in Milan Buildings and structures demolished in the 1860s Demolished buildings and structures in Italy