The Tacchinardi confectionery has been situated in Palazzo Vistarini since 1924 but previously for more than a century it had been in Via Gaffurio (now Via Gabba)... but the sites and the premises are just passing changes because the Tacchinardi confectionery business, now in its modern premises in Cornegliano Laudense, still continues to be a protagonist of the Lodi community. The confectionary art is linked with festivities and religious celebrations, from graduation parties to weddings: and so the cake shop, the refreshment stand, the coffee shop and even the wine shop, “set up:” by the Tacchinardi family two generations before the ‘Kingdom of Italy’ was formed, has seen the passing of princes and queens, Austro- Hungarian and Piedmontese... lawyers and peasants, countless star-crossed sweethearts. Even the Italy of the “Fiat Seicento” and the economic boom passed through here, with a sigh of relief. So it is hard to account for the decades and the changes; it is much easier just to talk about the Tacchinardi flair, which marks this uninterrupted flow of vitality that Lodi was lucky enough to host. It all started a long time ago, at the beginning of the 19th century. He was called Carlo Tacchinardi and his wife was Maddalena Bocconi. We find them some years later, proud parents, introducing their two children to the Parish Priest of the Cathedral: Gaetano in 1826 and Giovanni in 1833, Giovanni. Gaetano, recorded in the Registry Office of the Municipality of Lodi as a property-owning merchant, died in the family home in via Gaffurio, on 6 February 1878, after carrying on the family business and leaving it to his son and heir, Alessandro (Lodi 16.10.1856 – Lodi 27.10.1941). His brother Giovanni, also registered as a merchant, never m a r - ried but played an active role in the civic and social life of the Lodi of his time. On his death in 1904, at the age of seventy, all the local newspapers praised him highly. Here is an extract: “ He loved – as no-one else could ever love – his family, his relatives, his friends – his Lodi. Son of a worker, he loved the workers and treated them well. For many years, in Public Affairs, he contributed a keen intellect, rare modesty and great courtesy.” ( Fanfulla da Lodi – year XXXI – Saturday 11/6/1904 –Lodi Municipal Library). In the meantime, his nephew Alessandro, registered as a well-to-do confectioner (offelliere) (Lodi Registry Office files), continued the business until his death, in October 1941, and left the tradition in the hands of the last heir, his son Gaetano. His father, Alessandro, known as “siur Lisander”, a connoisseur and dandy, always impeccably dressed, with his