Magazzini Duilio 48
The curve-windowed store of 1927–1930, one of the buildings that turned Viareggio’s seafront into a Liberty stage set.
At a glance
On Viale Regina Margherita, the Magazzini Duilio 48 belongs to the burst of building that remade Viareggio’s seafront after the great fire of 1917. Raised between 1927 and 1930, it stands with the Gran Caffè Margherita and the Bagno Balena as one of the buildings that define the town’s 1920s architecture. Its designer’s name has been lost, but the language of the reconstruction is unmistakable: pilasters dividing the front into bays, curved windows turning the corner, wrought-iron railings and oval glass signs. The interlaced “48” still rides above the door.
Key facts
- Built: 1927–1930
- Style: Viareggio Liberty of the 1920s
- Architect: unknown — the designer’s name has not survived
- Context: part of the post-1917-fire reconstruction overseen by a commission that included Galileo Chini
- Original use: the “Emporio Duilio 48” store of Giuseppe Siebzehner
- Address: Viale Regina Margherita 25
- Coordinates: 43.867086, 10.243095 — Google Maps
History
In 1917 a fire swept the wooden Passeggiata of Viareggio, the line of bath-houses, cafés and shops that had grown along the beach. The town took the disaster as a chance to rebuild in masonry, and in 1924 a government commission — including the architect Alfredo Belluomini, the engineer Ugo Giusti and the painter-decorator Galileo Chini — set the style of the new seafront.
The Magazzini Duilio 48 went up in that wave, between 1927 and 1930, to house the “Emporio Duilio 48” of the merchant Giuseppe Siebzehner. Who drew it is not known, but it speaks the same confident Liberty as its famous neighbours, and it has remained one of the most representative buildings of 1920s Viareggio.
What you see
The front is divided by pilasters into a rhythm of solid panels and display windows. The drama is at the corner, where two large curved windows wrap the first floor behind wrought-iron railings, topped by oval signs in coloured glass. Floral motifs in cement and the interlaced “48” monogram complete a facade designed to be read from the promenade.
It is shop architecture raised to civic scale — a commercial building that holds its own beside the cafés and hotels of the Passeggiata.
Practical information
- The building still functions as commercial premises; appreciate the facade from Viale Regina Margherita.
- Best seen by day, when the corner windows and ironwork read clearly.
- Part of a short Liberty walk along the Viareggio seafront.
Getting there
Viareggio is on the Genoa–Rome and Lucca railway lines. From the station it is about a kilometre to the seafront; the Magazzini stand on Viale Regina Margherita, the central stretch of the Passeggiata.
Nearby
- Gran Caffè Margherita — the Chini-domed café a few doors along
- Negozio Martini — the 1899 Liberty shop beside the café
- Bagno Balena — the bathing establishment with Chini’s 1928 entrance
Sources
- Comune di Viareggio — the Liberty Passeggiata
- Catalogo generale dei Beni Culturali (ICCD)
- Itinerario Liberty di Viareggio
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