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 Duomo di Milano), ordered by Pietro Figino.

[1] The building, located on the north-western side of the piazza,[1] was a popular meeting place for the Milanese people for over 400 years; it housed several shops that sold such drinks as the turbolin (boiled and filtered coffee), chocolate, barbajada, orgeat syrup, and more.

[3] The Coperto was ordered for demolition in the early 19th century (and actually demolished in the 1860s), as a consequence of the major redesign of the piazza.

[2] Painter Angelo Inganni has left a few drawings depicting the Coperto a few years before being demolished,[4] and some photographs have also been preserved.

Piazza del Duomo circa 1860, in a photograph by Alessandro Duroni (1807-1870). The Coperto dei Figini is the building on the far right. On the left, the ancient neighborhood of the Rebecchino , demolished in the same years as the Coperto.