Piazza Cairoli

Named after the Cairoli brothers, four of whom died for Italian unity, the square embodies 19th-century Brindisi. With the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 the city was suddenly back at the centre of the world, as in Roman times: the ships of the Peninsular and Oriental line called here, and passengers bound for India crossed these pavements.

The buildings speak the language of Liberty and the eclecticism of the late 19th century, with façades of local limestone. The arcades, where people stroll in the shade during the hot hours, tell of an urban culture that has always known how to inhabit public space with elegance. It is said that in the cafés of the square, in the early 20th century, English sailors stirred their tea alongside Central European strudel, the cosmopolitan atmosphere of a frontier city.