Piazza Maria Immacolata, known as the Porticos, is a large semi-elliptical space of neoclassical style with a semicircular structure, characterized by a succession of thirteen arches and is the elegant living room of the baroque city. It is located in the heart of the old town as if it were an ideal point of intersection between religious baroque on one side, Piazza Plebiscito, and elegant baroque on the other, Via Cavour.
The complex was designed by the Taranto architect Davide Conversano in 1854 to house the market. In fact, under each archway the various vendors with their stalls and wares were arranged, becoming to all intents and purposes the commercial forum of the ancient village. A square, therefore, which had a function of considerable interest for the life of the village, it is no coincidence that until a few decades ago a fountain was placed in the center of the square and after the renovations of the area it was eliminated.
The square is dominated mainly by neoclassical lines and proportions, although in reality the project has remained incomplete. In fact, just look at the upper floor to realize that the two facades located at the ends of the hemicycle clearly belong to different periods; the one on the right is contemporary to the arcade, so it dates back to the second half of the nineteenth century, instead the one on the left was built in the twentieth century.
