Palmanova - perfect town
During the Renaissance, urban designers across Europe was thinking about the concept of a "perfect city". The ideal city should have the unique symmetry and shapes, the size of the squares had to match the width of the streets, and these in turn have an impact on the height of buildings. The idea was to preserve the unique symbiosis between the Government, the clergy and the nobility. Utopian visions of ideal cities exist mainly on paper. The key to success would be to control the chaos. Philosophers and artists for many years were discussing about harmony and moderation in the design, and finally in Italy it was built - Palmanova.
Palmanova has been designed by Vincenzo Scamozziego.
The city was founded on October 7, 1593. Selection of the date was no coincidence, exactly 22 years before the forces of Christian Europe defeated the Turks in the battle of Lepanto, October 7 was also the day of St. Justina from Padua, which was selected to be one of the patroness of Palmanova. Soon the town took shape nineteen pointed star - form known from military architecture.
In the Centre is the hexagonal Piazza Grande tiled with authentic Istrian stone, from which overlook the streets. Next to the Town Hall the most important element of the Piazza Grande is the Cathedral, which was built in 1636. 140 years later was built the Bell Tower, which deliberately was lower than other such constructs. This was not visible from outside the city walls. Evrything has been perfectly designed. The main streets of the city have the same length and width - 14 metres. At the end of the street are the gateways to the city. The whole city is surrounded by a wall in the shape of a star. From the air, the city resemble a snowflake.
Perfect city have to "create" the perfect people. The creators of the perfect city, wanted to reduce the randomness in the architecture. They believed in their own genius. They wanted to create a city designed from the beginning to the end. They did not anticipate, however, that this city will not be able in the future to develop, without prejudice to their "ideal" proportions.
Palmanova is a model and admired example of a perfect city. In the ideal city, the most important thing was the central square, a kind of market, located exactly in the middle of the city-so that each of the residents here had relatively close. The Cathedral square is the second important element of the ideal city.
Outside Italy the ideal city can be found in the Netherlands (Brielle). Also Poland Zamosc was built on the same principles. However, only the Palmanova has retained to the present day, it's original appearance (dating back more than 400 years).