Corso

The Corso
Location	The Capitol
Inhabitants	Snow family Plinth family Crane family Price family Dolittle family
Appearances
Appearances	The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

The Corso is a palatial grand avenue containing multiple apartments, housing the most elite and powerful citizens and families of all of Panem located in the Capitol.

History

Dark Days

Prior to the Dark Days, the avenue was used to display military parades, as it could fit eight chariots side by side, on the anniversary of the Capitol's founding. Alongside much of the Capitol, the avenue was bombed and thus the parades was discontinued. At some point, the rebel forces had managed to invade the Corso, as Snow recalled hearing the footsteps of rebel boots from the war in his youth.

The elevator at the Snows' apartment building stopped working early into the war, and was only fixed ten years after it ended. This was presumably to appeal to potential buyers after many of the apartments were placed on the market.

10th Hunger Games

By the time of the 10th Hunger Games, the Capitol's reconstruction effort was still ongoing, as debris was still left on the avenue from the rebellion. Just before the reaping, due to the fact that many of the residents were unable to pay their respective expenses, homes on the Corso and other wealthy areas were placed on the market. This was also in part due to taxes, which was going to be compulsory for all citizens of Panem, as prior, taxes was only applicable to District citizens. This decision was made by the government to assist with the reconstruction effort.

Residents

• Snow family - lived in the penthouse at the top of the most opulent apartment building in the Capitol. Despite being struck hard by the rebellion and taxes, the Plinth family made Snow their respective heir, which in turn thereby allowed the family the opportunity to continue living within the penthouse.
  • Grandma'am
  • Snow's deceased grandfather
  • Crassus Xanthos Snow
  • Snow's mother
  • Coriolanus Snow
  • Tigris
• Plinth family - lived in the floor below that of the Snows. They moved in after the 10th Hunger Games after buying the home from the Dolittles.
  • Strabo Plinth
  • Mrs. Plinth
• Dolittle family - lived in the floor below that of the Snows. By the time of the 10th Hunger Games, after investing much of their money to allow Remus to become a Gamemaker, they sold off their home to the Plinths.
  • Remus Dolittle
• Crane family - lived in an apartment across the Corso from the Snows.
  • Arachne Crane
  • Arachne's parents
  • Arachne's older brother
• Price family - lived in a town house on the Corso. Snow recalled Nero Price cutting off the leg of a dead maid who used to work for the Cranes during the Dark Days food shortage.
  • Nero Price
  • Persephone Price

Etymology

The Corso may have been named after the Via del Corso, a major street in Rome.

Trivia

• Despite being a part of the Plinth family, Sejanus never lived within the Corso, having died prior to his parents' move.
• Based on the description of the Corso and the Snows' apartment building, some fans theorize that the Corso became the City Circle and the apartment building became the Training Center.
• The Corso scenes in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes were filmed on Berlin's Karl-Marx-Allee, formerly Stalinallee. It was built during reconstruction in East Germany after WWII and named after the Soviet leader. Like the Corso, the real-world location had housing, shops, and monuments. A gigantic statue of Stalin was replaced with Panem iconography for the film.
  • The replacement statue depicted a woman holding crossed swords above her head. Alongside design studies by Leif Heanzo, she was referred to as Panema.
• In the film, the Corso was given the name Road of Hope on an eviction notice to the Snows.