It is a titanic work of art representing the industrial aspect of Terni.

It’s located at the west entrance to Terni along the Orte – Terni freeway. The locals call it ‘palmetta’ too because once there was a small palm tree in that spot; many citizens call it “la dentiera” (dentures), a nickname created by some funny guys who associated it with the person who constructed it, a well-known dentist from Terni, and because of its shape.ctually, the sculptor wanted to represent the Terni valley with its steel mill built in the late 1800s and its importance today.

The work of art has a harmonious shape and stands on a base where it seems to be rolling.

On the north side of the square there is Palazzo Spada. The main entrance of this sixteenth century building is at the end of Corso del Popolo and from here, if you look northward, you’ll see an important modern sculpture set in the middle of a roundabout. 

The inhabitants of Terni are very proud of this monument conceived and designed by the famous sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro, whose works adorn a lot of cities all over the world.

Its name is Lancia di luce, it is the symbol of the strict relationship between Terni and the steel factory.

The obelisk is a big monument of 500 tons. It is divided in four sections .

The first section is made of steel, chrome and copper. The second section is made of stainless steel ( the special steel produced inTerni ), nickel and copper. The third section is like the second one and the fourth is made of gleaming brass. It looks like a pointed spire.

At night it looks like a hot needle. It is 32 metres high and it’s a hymn to work .

In the XI century, when in central and northern Italy the towns started to be repopulated the inhabitants used the materials of the ancient Romans buildings. In some cases, they simply restored what remained of them. If you lean out of the balcony that is below Porta Sant’ Angelo (where a few years ago they built an underground parking) you can see the remains of an ancient Roman bridge. 

Walking eastwards you’ll stroll along Cavour street. This street overlays an ancient roman street called decumano that crossed the city from west to east. Nowadays the street doesn’t have the look of an old roman street because in the Middle Ages, for defensive measures, the streets became narrow and tortuous. If you go ahead, you’ll find Mazzancolli palace. It was built in the XIV century and restored in the XV, in the Middle Ages it was the resident of an important family. You’ll easily recognize it because of the rings (used to park horses) that are still on the walls. Today this palace houses the Public Records Office (Archivio di Stato).

The façade has the typical features of the Renaissance palaces: two floors with big windows. The palace is famous for the size of the stones used to build it.

In the XVI sec. the main entrance of this palace was invia Roma. The bombings of the Second World War destroyed all the buildingsthat were behind it so, immediately after the war,there was a bigempty space behind this important palace.

The architect Ridolfi , whohad to redesign the city destroyed bythe war,in the 1950s decidedto movethe main entrance of thepalace and put itwhere it is nowadays.

All the main floor rooms are decorated with frescos dating from the second half of the sixteenth to the nineteenth century . You can admire theinteresting frescos of Sala Fetonte which is currently used for the meetings of the city council since nowadays the palace is the seat of the Town Hall.

Today this Palace houses the tech-library, very popular among students and citizens. Look at the wide windows that light the room with the internet points. Here you can also see the impressive medieval column that supports a vaulted roof.

When Terni was part of the Papal State, this palace was the seat of the Pope’s Governor. In 1441 the Governor built a tower with a clock and bells in the centre of the palace. In 1943, during World War II°, the 108 bombings that hit the city destroyed the tower of the clock, in the 90s the local government restructured the palace to create the Tech Library and it rebuilt the tower too.

The present tower, made of steel and crystal, looks like Marmore Waterfalls. Crystal and steel are the symbols of Terni resources: the water (source of hydroelectric power) and steel (produced with an innovative technology).

If you look at the Tech Library, you’ll see Piazza Europa on your left. On the north side of this square you can see part of Palazzo Spada.

This square represents another meeting point of the city, in the sunny days the citizens sit here to talk and to spend some pleasant time together.

Its original name was “Piazza Solferino or Piazza delle erbe ”, because until the 1960s the farmers used to sell the fruits of their harvest in this place . Today there is a marble sculpture that represents a whale.

In fact the architect Carlo Ayononimo, who planned the three main squares of Terni, Piazza della Repubblica, Piazza Europa and Piazza Solferino, was inspired, for the last one, by the children of “Mazzini” school who had the idea of furnishing the square, where they used to play, with the symbols of Pinocchio’s story. If you look at both the sculpture and the paving, they ‘ll remind you the whale that ate Geppetto and Pinocchio, and the sea where it swam.

In all children’s paintings there is the sun, so the architect set a sun on the marble floor.