Hotel Plaza & Locanda Maggiore

In Piazza del Popolo, leaving the Guidotti Fountain behind, the eye is immediately caught by the Hotel Plaza & Locanda Maggiore, a symbol of Montecatini Terme’s gradual rise as a prestigious spa resort.

It was built in 1787 at the request of the Cassinese Monks. They were in charge of the spa facilities built at the behest of Peter Leopold I, Emperor of Austria. In return for this privilege, the monks had to provide dignified hospitality to visitors. This was the beginning of the Locanda Maggiore, the first hotel in Montecatini Terme, which was built in order to increase the number of hotel rooms in the city and later became known as the Hotel Plaza & Locanda Maggiore.

Giuseppe Verdi used to stay here, and it was at the Locanda that he worked on Otello and Falstaff. On the occasion of the bicentenary of the artist’s death, the “Fondazione Credito Cooperativo della Valdinievole” placed a bronze bust of the artist outside the Locanda.