The new and ancient cities of Rovereto (Trento) converge in piazza Cesare Battisti, or piazza delle Oche for the stone swans that once adorned the fountain. The fountain of Neptune, by sculptor Domenico Molin of Val Badia, dating to 1736, stands in the centre. The houses surrounding the square differ in height and style which gives this corner of the city a very particular grace.
On the left, near recently restored buildings, the Baroque Lenner house is notable for the decoration of the “Madonna della Stella" in a stucco frame. The Zanini house, on the right corner where via Orefici leads into the square, once featured a large drum-shaped electric clock that people called "the Peterschütz tamburom", from the name of the Austrian clockmaker who had positioned it above his shop.
Next to the Lenner house was once the "Caffè e billiard al Commercio", a busy meeting point for students, workers and the city’s middle class. In his famous work History and criticism of public opinion, sociologist Jurgen Habermas notes that the Caffè had a fundamental role in the development of the "rational public argumentation" which, in the early 18th century, inspired the nascent bourgeoisie to emancipate from aristocratic power by stimulating the rapid establishment of democratic institutions.
Trentino Film Commission
Via Giovanni Zanella 10/2 — 38122 Trento
Phone: +39 0461 49 3501/3508
Fax: +39 0461 495460
Email: filmcommission@provincia.tn.it
