The Evolution of a Small Park Essay -- Descriptive Essay About A Place

Place Essay – The Evolution of a Small Park Piazzetta Vescovato is not just the prettiest square in the heart of Brescia’s historic downtown. Piazzetta Vescovato is a powerful symbol. Nested between Corso Zanardelli and Via Trieste, this little site has been a meaningful part of the lives of generations and generations of Bresciani (inhabitants of Brescia). Half a century ago, la piazzetta(as I like to call it) witnessed the horrors of the Second World War, when frightened people stepped on its sanpietrini(those little cubic stones that made up the pavement of medieval European streets), attempting to escape the Nazi soldiers or to reach a rifugio,an underground cellar that offered protection from the bombs thrown down by German planes. After the war ended, the little square began to swarm with people engaged in different kinds of activities: shops reopened, bars appeared, and the Vescovato (the residence and office of the Bishop), after having undergone some repairs, was functioning again — inciting respect and intimidation. The aura of sacredness surrounding it, backed up by substantial monetary funds (as in any good Roman Catholic institution), kept the masses at a safe distance, and poor people discovered quickly how the Christian message had gotten lost amidst the power and bureaucracy of it all. La piazzetta did its best to escape the authoritarian, obscure effect of the clergymen across the street. The bar at the northwestern corner of Via Trieste and Via Mazzini, and the one right in Via Mazzini, a little down the street toward Corso Zanardelli, balanced things out a bit, with their noisy male clientele celebrating the end of the war with a few bianchini(glasses of local white wine), games of cards, ... ...aluable upper middle-class clientele. The oysters and champagne bar is gone. In its place, an expensive baby clothes boutique, right in front of one of the clergy stores, has been open for quite a while now. People stroll by, admire, and go on to mind their own matters. It seems like the order has been re-established by some external force, unknown to the layperson passing by. But if you stop there for a minute and listen carefully, you may hear some of the thousand songs of terror, hope, glory, sadness, utopia, joy and grief, irresponsibility and disillusion trapped in the leaves of the four trees. It is a subdued howl that has become part of the spirit of the piazzetta itself. Not everybody hears it, or feels it. Only the ones who know how to dream have access to the magic of it. And only for them, Piazzetta Vescovato, symbol of Resilience, comes to life.