Loggia della Beccheria, Loggia della Misura

Loggia della Beccheria, designed by local architect Giuseppe Tellarini, is a characteristic building with portico constructed in 1865 to house activities for butchering and selling meat. The Loggia was called “della beccheria”, a term normally used to describe a place dedicated to the butchering and sale of “beaked” animals, although it was later used to include all premises dedicated to the sale of meat in general.

The building is located on the east side of Piazza Pompilio, which was obtained when the northern moat was filled in during the second half of the 18th century and was designed to house the commercial activities of Artusi’s home town. In the 1820s and 30s, several narrow passageways were opened on the external wall of the fortress overlooking the square and the internal premises allocated for use as shops. In fact, four commercial activities were opened there, three of them butcher’s. In 1861, a large ice-house was built in one of the fortress rooms adjacent to these commercial activities to help them preserve the butchered meats. Now part of the Archaeological Museum of Forlimpopoli, the ice-house continued to function until the 1960s.

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Close to Loggia della Beccheria stands Loggia della Misura, also known as Foro Annonario, built by the town’s municipal administration in 1817. As well as playing a key role in developing commerce, the loggia was immediately seen as a delightful architectural feature that added to and improved the surrounding urban context. The loggia still features sombre and elegant Tuscan order columns, noticeable on the north side of Piazza Pompilio.
Inside the Loggia della Misura are two commemorative stones; one dedicated to pularul (poultry men) and the other to baruzér (carters), recalling the trades (along with brokers and horse dealers) favoured until quite recently by locals.