Today we are taking you to Livorno on one of our usual tours to discover the historical cafes in the city. Here you will discover the ponce, a typical coffee drink popular in this area.
We all love Tuscany, and you might already know the amazing city of Florence. This time we’d like to take you to Livorno, a beautiful city which was home to some of the most ancient cafes in Italy. Unfortunately, not all of them are in business today, but we still have a few.
You might wonder why Livorno had so many popular cafes. The first reason will be that, as a port town, raw coffee was arriving right here: Livorno was the first stop since the departure from the origin country. Moreover, as all harbour towns, Livorno had a bright cultural life thanks to many artists and influential personalities who lived here.
All this set the roots for the establishment of cultural cafes that served as the meeting point for these many personalities. As the cafes opened and developed along the beautiful streets of Livorno, the ponce (or punch) was being created. The ponce is a local drink made of coffee and warm rum.
Bar (Café) Civili
Where else would we begin if not the place where the ponce has (apparently) been invented? This charming place, Bar Civili, is located in via del Vigna, a street running not far from the railway station that always served as the main entrance road to Livorno.
It was founded in 1890 and it was immediately recognized as one of the most important places in the city to the present day. In its retro vibes you can still sense the energy of the ancient patrons of the place, among them: Amedeo Modigliani, Giovanni Fattori, Renato Natali and Silvestro Lega. If you decide to visit Livorno, you necessarily need to stop here and order the traditional ponce drink!
Caffè della Posta
Unfortunately, you won’t be able to visit this beautiful café anymore. As the name may suggest, the place was established in front of the Post Office in 1851, and it has been one of the oldest and for sure the most popular cafè in the city until its end. Its décor was unique and consisted in mirrors and all kinds of elegant details.
Patriots and intellectuals of the city would meet here, and just to mention a few names: Giosué Carducci, Giuseppe Mazzini and Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi. The typical drink of this café is the poncino, and we don’t need to tell you that there’s alcohol in it!
Caffè Bardi
Caffè Bardi has been open for a very short time: from 1908 to 1921. It has been a very important place for the city, it was in fact a “literary café” and served as meeting point for the intellectual and artists of Livorno.
Amedeo Modigliani, was just one of the famous painters of the time to come here for his ponce, which he apparently used to enjoy while smoking a Tuscan cigar. Other artistic personalities were coming here, even though the place was popular for being the field of some very animated debates and some would rather stay away from here and look for a quieter environment.
Other cafes in Livorno
Even though most of them are no longer in business today, we’d still like to mention a few of them, because of the importance they had for the city. For examples, we’d like to remember the Caffè L’Americano and the Caffè Greco, that were famous for their international customers. Another one it Caffè Minerva, popular because it was the meeting point for the departure of one of the first patriotic manifestation in 1847. Caffè Sergenti and Café Sbrogi, the latter destroyed in 1923 during a very harsh fight between the fascists and their opponents. We want to end with Caffè della Speranza and Caffè del Giappone, both very important in the cultural environment of the time.
So, how do you like Livorno? Stay tuned because we will soon take you to Florence, the main city of Tuscany which, as it is easy to guess, is home to many historic cafes too!
