This sector of Santiago combines the most traditional of neighborhood life with the vanguard of fashion, decoration and gastronomy. Corner grocery stores, antique dealers, bakeries, bicycle workshops and shoe repair shops maintain a residential identity that its neighbors protect, turning the neighborhood into a tourist circuit worthy to be visited. At first this sector belonged to wealthy families who settled in villas far enough from the hustle and bustle of the downtown. In 1905 the Italian Giaccinto Girardi inaugurated the famous hat shop Girardi Manufacturas S.A. The factory had up to five hundred workers. around 1980 the first artists began to settle, such as Anton Birke or Francisco de la Puente. The factory had up to five hundred workers. Around 1980, the first artists began to settle there, such as Anton Birke or Francisco de la Puente. Step by step, the Italia neighborhood formed its own identity, which moves its neighbors to protect its history.