Bulgari celebrates its 130th year
The celebrations start with the reopening of the historic flagship store in Via dei Condotti in Rome, an event designed as a tribute to the city whose eternal history has been an inexhaustible constant source of inspiration for his collections.
It was in 1881 when Sotirio Bulgari arrived in Italy after leaving Greece in 1879 and travelling between Corfu and Naples. In Rome, he found beauty, art, creativity and, above all, a prosperous market – an ideal one to expand the silverware-focused family business in.
His intuition was right, so much that just three years later he opened his first shop on Via Sistina 85, and ten years later the second one was opened on Via dei Condotti 28. It was the road he walked through every day between one store and the other, up and down Italy's most famous steps, that charmed him the most. Between Piazza Trinità dei Monti and the Spanish Steps he could look into the eyes of the whole world: people of every age, nationality, class, and culture.The 138 steps designed by architect Francesco de Sanctis had struck artists and writers from around the world, as Bergsøe and D'Annunzio, since late 1725 when the work was completed. Thus, in 1905, Sotirio opened his third store, still on Via dei Condotti, but this time at number 10, much closer to those steps that embody the Eternal City's terrace. The same ones that are in the middle of the "Trident" , the worldly heart of the capital city and the spiritual heart of western civilization.The view opens up when entering the store – a unique vision that has bewitched photographers, designers and artists from around the world. For this reason, Bulgari has decided to return the gift those steps have given the world with their beauty, and has adopted them. For its 130 year anniversary, Bulgari has decided to fund the renovation of the famous steps.
