The third volume in the series of photographic notebooks of the Intesa Sanpaolo historical archive is given to an unpublished and evocative collection tied to the history of the Banca Commerciale Italiana.

In 1907 that bank, together with a group of entrepreneurs from the Veneto led by Giuseppe Volpi, founded in Geneva the Società Commerciale d'Oriente, in order to finance plants and infrastructure — railways, mines, power stations and shipping companies — in the Near East. The company moved its seat to Milan in 1912 but could count on several offices across the Ottoman basin.