The Rebecchino was a historic neighborhood of
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...
,
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 ...
, located in the immediate surroundings of
Milan's Cathedral, in what is now
Piazza del Duomo. The neighborhood was demolished in the second half of the 19th century to allow for the thorough redesign of the ''piazza'' that led to its modern, monumental layout.
Reportedly, the Rebecchino was named after an eponymous inn, dating back to the 16th century, which in turn took its name from the fact that its sign had a
rebec
The rebec (sometimes rebecha, rebeckha, and other spellings, pronounced or ) is a bowed string instrument, stringed instrument of the Medieval era and the early Renaissance. In its most common form, it has a narrow boat-shaped body and one to fiv ...
on it. This inn was so well known that the word "rebecchino" (also spelled "rebechino") eventually came to mean "cheap hotel" per
antonomasia
In rhetoric, antonomasia is a kind of metonymy in which an epithet or phrase takes the place of a proper name, such as "the little corporal" for Napoleon I; or, conversely, the use of a proper name as an archetypal name, to express a generic idea ...
.
The first plans to demolish the Rebecchino date back to the
Napoleonic
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
rule of Milan, in the 18th century, when the modern Piazza del Duomo began to take shape.
[Storia di Milano: la sistemazione finale della piazza]
/ref> While the Cathedral and the surrounding piazza were supposed to become a symbol of the wealth of Milan, the Rebecchino clashed with this vision, as it was a chaotic agglomerate of old, decayed buildings; its narrow streets were populated by thieves and other evil-doers that would prey on the pilgrims visiting the Cathedral.
The order for the demolition of the Rebecchino, along with that of the Coperto dei Figini
The Coperto dei Figini was a Renaissance porticoed building located in what is now Piazza del Duomo, the central square in Milan, Italy. The construction began in 1467 on a design by architect Guiniforte Solari (from the Veneranda Fabbrica del D ...
(a portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many c ...
dating back to the Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...
, also in the area of the Cathedral) was formalized in 1810, but quarrels followed, and the neighborhood survived for several decades, somewhat like "an island" in the middle of the developing plaza.William I
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 108 ...
visiting Milan in 1875.Storia di Milano: dal 1871 al 1880
/ref>
Footnotes
{{coord, 45.4638, N, 9.1895, E, source:wikidata, display=title
History of Milan