Piazza San Domenico Maggiore

Lonely Planet review

For some unexplained reason, this airy square is a hit with dreadlocked Spaniards. Along with local students and foreign tourists, they flock here for a late-night beer, cigarette and chat.

Headed by the Chiesa di San Domenico Maggiore and flanked by imposing palazzi, the piazza was a series of humble kitchen gardens until the 15th century when the Aragonese decided to make San Domenico their royal church. In the 17th century, various aristocrats built their townhouses around the square. At its centre sits the very baroque Guglia di San Domenico. Decorated by Cosimo Fanzago and completed in 1737 by Domenico Antonio Vaccaro, it was a token of gratitude to San Domenico for ridding the city of the plague epidemic of 1656.