Piazza del Sole, also known as Piazza a Porta Ticinese, is located in the centre of Bellinzona, more precisely at the foot of the Castelgrande hill, and is today a well-known meeting place where events of various importance are organised. The Piazza was renovated fairly recently (1996-1999) by Ticino architect Livio Vacchini. A strong contrast between "old" and "new" is immediately apparent, especially due to the massive and impressive presence of Castelgrande.
Before the modern restyling we mentioned at the beginning, the Piazza was not a piazza but an urban parking area with an "island" of buildings in the middle and surrounded by buildings of dubious taste on the edge of the rocks. This area was built only in the 18th century after the water of the Ticino river and the Daro stream, which sometimes peeped out, was eliminated (and diverted) thanks to a unique and regular slope (a sort of slot) hidden on the side.
At present, the paving of the square is made of granite slabs (43x43 cm) and is illuminated by a large lighthouse. The position of the tiles that are embedded in the pavement is not random, but creates stylised shapes that embellish the Piazza and these are only visible from above.
On the four sides of the Piazza there are pointed bodies in reinforced concrete - informally called the four guardians - which mark the presence and entrance to the new parking garage below the Piazza.
As the Bellinzona Turismo website reports, "The linearity of the design, the essentiality of the access and ventilation shafts of the parking garage below, the dialogue of the new architectural composition with the rock and the wall, all recall in a certain sense the ancient spaces and dimensions."
